Thorns for the Roses Volume 1
by SirStonewall
Summary: A mercenary flight of 2 F-105G's gets into trouble over Syria and run through a cloud bank to escape their pursuers they aren't where they expect to be... this is my first fanfic, so constructive criticism is welcome.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: Volume 1 sets up the story for Volume 2, which will be hopefully released soon. This is my first fanfic that I've published, so constructive criticism is welcome.**

 **And with that, enjoy!**

A quiet airbase sits next to a swamp, the frogs croaking out a soothing melody as the crews sleep in preparation for the busy day ahead tomorrow. The only people awake are the guards, walking a nonstop patrol around the base to ensure nobody tampers with the military aircraft stationed there.  
In the distance, barely audible over the sound of the frogs, are explosions and gunfire.  
Then one of the barracks doors open, and four people walk out, fully dressed in flight suits, parachutes, and harnesses.  
"The colonel wanted to brief us early, but damn. Oh-three hundred? Really?" The red-haired 22 year old yawns out as he descends the steps and leads the group towards the air traffic control tower.  
"Yeah, no kidding. But at least we don't have to worry about other strike packages getting in the way." The tall girl behind him yawns as well, her red and black hair hanging down to her lower back.  
The other two girls don't say anything, they just follow along grouchily.  
Entering the tower they find a gray-haired officer waiting for them.  
"Good morning, head on into the briefing room, I'll make this quick."  
They all sleepily oblige, sitting down in various chairs scattered around the room.  
The officer follows them in and dims the lights, turning on a projector hanging from the ceiling.  
"As you all know, yesterday was not a good day to be a bomber pilot. We lost four Aardvarks and a thud. All of these losses can be attributed to a new shipment of SAM's that the enemy got. Likely SA-2's, but there may be some SA-10's. Being how you are all wild weasel's, I don't even need to tell you what to do."  
He turns to the next slide, a map of the immediate area, where five X's are scattered about.  
"Two of the sites are north of the city for certain, and another three have been reported firing out of the industrial district. Another two are known to be firing out of the area surrounding the mosque. That's all I need to say, your planes are fueled and ready to go. Wheels up in fifteen. Dismissed."  
The lights turn back on and everyone stands up, quickly hurrying out.  
When they get outside they find a jeep waiting, and all quickly pile in before it roars off towards two concrete hangars.  
As they roll to a stop in front of the hangars the four waste no time getting off, splitting into pairs and jogging towards their respective hangars.  
The ginger and the redhead jog into the hangar and climb into the aircraft, the latter of the two climbing into the more spacious back seat reserved for the electronics warfare officer.  
The ginger climbs into the pilot's seat and slips his helmet on as the front doors to the bunker slide open.  
"What's our armament?" He asks, turning on the master power and beginning the startup process.  
The redhead looks around as she starts up her station.  
"Let's see... we've got our usual jammer pod, Vulcan, centerline drop tank... two shrikes, two HARM's, and two mavericks, the old models of course."  
The ginger rolls his eyes and growls.  
"Why the fuck do we get stuck with these ancient weapons when the assholes doing CAS get the new stuff?"  
She laughs as the engine starts to whine.  
"You know how this government is."  
He growls in response as the canopy closes and locks.  
"Yeah, a punch of penny-pinching morons."  
She laughs as the engine starts up, the dull roar echoing in the hangar.  
She tunes the comm stack and radios the other plane.  
"Pontiac two, Pontiac lead, comms check."  
{Pontiac lead, five by five.}  
She looks up at the ginger below her over the control panel.  
"We ready to go Jackson?"  
He nods, looking over his controls before giving a thumbs up.  
She clips her helmet on and adjusts her microphone.  
"Pontiac two, Pontiac lead, we're heading off, feel free to follow us."  
{Roger that lead, Pontiac two will wait for you to taxi past us.}  
Jackson gives the engine a bit of power, and the plane rolls forward, following the nose-wheel steering inputs he gives.  
The tan/black/brown color scheme of the camouflage pattern blending in with the desert around them. The only thing not adhering to the camouflage is the nose art on the left side of the nose, a curvy girl clad in lingerie with red cursive below reading 'total tease'.  
They slowly taxi past the other hangar, and Jackson waves at the short blonde in the pilot's seat.  
The blonde gives him the finger as they taxi out behind Jackson.  
"Jesus Amy, I know your sister isn't a morning person but tell her to chill the fuck out." He chuckles, turning onto the runway.  
"She'll probably tell me the same thing she told you. You know how Cassie is."  
He chuckles and slows to a stop, allowing Cassie's plane, 'brazen blonde', to stop next to him.  
"Hey Amy, get clearance to take off, would you dear?"  
She rolls her eyes and sighs, changing the channel to the traffic control channel.  
"Castle, this is Pontiac one and two, requesting permission to take off, runway two-six."  
{This is Castle, clearance granted, happy hunting.}  
She switches back to the flight net and squeaks her microphone.  
"Alright, let's go kill some SAM's."  
Jackson nods and pushes the throttle forward, accelerating down the runway and up into the morning sky.

Thirty minutes later they streak into the target area, flying half a mile apart.  
Amelia has her eyes glued on the radar warning receiver, waiting for the radar crews to turn on the radar for even a second.  
Suddenly there's a contact that winks on for a second before turning back off.  
"Contact! Search radar, bearing six-five, two clicks!"  
Jackson rolls the plane over and turns towards the bearing, followed in the turn by the Cassie's plane.  
"It turned off as soon as it acquired us, they know what we're here for."  
Jackson nods and tunes his comm stack for the friendly radar station in case enemy fighters get scrambled.  
{I've got nothing over here, but I've got an Idea.} Kimberly, Cassie's EWO reports to Amelia.  
"Let me guess, _here kitty, kitty_?"  
{Thank you for volunteering!}  
Jackson hears the conversation through his headset, including getting voluntold to run the gauntlet, attempting to get the enemy SAM to target him.  
"You just had to say it didn't you?" He chuckles, kicking the engine into afterburner and climbing high above the radar site.  
Minutes later the RWR in Amelia's station goes wild, registering half a dozen radars, all targeting them.  
"Pontiac two, we just kicked the hornet's nest, don't miss." Amelia starts targeting one of the sites, and gets a successful lock.  
"Pontiac one, rifle!"  
One of the mavericks roars off the rail, slowly turning to face the target before impacting.  
"Splash! One radar down."  
{Pontiac two, rifle.}  
Kimberly fires at another while Amelia changes targets, and Amelia quickly fires at another one before they have to circle around.  
Suddenly a new voice crackles over the radio.  
{Pontiac one, be advised. Pop-up group, bearing one-five for five miles, flanking hot.}  
Jackson jumps at the transmission and starts nervously looking around while calling into his radio.  
"Pontiac two, we gotta go! We've got enemy fighters five miles out!"  
{Roger that! Turn one-nine-zero and light the wick!}  
Jackson rolls the plane left and jams the throttle forwards, the plane surging forward as the engine output nearly doubles.  
After several seconds Jackson levels the wings out and the speedometer eases faster and faster with each second.  
"Drop the luggage! It's just slowing us down!"  
Amelia chirps her microphone in acknowledgment and flips several switches before hitting a red button.

 ***KER-THUNK!***

The remaining missiles jettison from their mounting points, pin wheeling to the ground.  
"You want me to drop the bag too?" Amelia asks, referring to the half-full drop tank under their fuselage.  
"No, we may need it!" Jackson snaps back as Cassie's jet also jettisons its missiles.  
Suddenly there's an electronic squeal in Jackson's helmet, indicating a missile lock.  
"Dive to the deck! It's foggy enough that they might lose visual!"  
Cassie rolls over and dives towards the ground, quickly followed by Jackson.  
In Jackson's helmet the squealing is replaced by a jackhammer beeping, and he presses a button on his right control panel, firing a quick burst of flares and chaff out of dispensers on the side of the plane.  
The beeping stops, and they level out at 1500 feet before flying into a thick fog bank.  
"Keep your eye on your altimeter, any fuckups at this altitude and you'll be dead before you know it." Jackson warns Cassie, who squeaks an acknowledgment on her microphone.

After a grueling five minutes of flying through the fog bank Cassie tries to radio something to Jackson, but the transmission has so much static overlaid that none of the words are understandable.  
Jackson tries to radio her, but there's too much interference, he tries to talk to Amelia, and the situation is the same.  
Suddenly there's a thundering on his helmet, and he looks over his shoulder to see Amelia pointing off to their right.  
Flying wingtip to wingtip with them is an enemy MIG-21, the pilot completely oblivious to his prey.  
Jackson nods, cutting back of the throttle and popping the speed brakes before slotting in behind the MIG.  
He puts the gun sight on the glowing red tailpipe and pulls the trigger for one second.  
 ***BRRRRRRRRRRRT!***  
The 20mm Vulcan Gatling gun in the nose roars to life, sending a stream of red tracers straight into the tail of the enemy fighter, causing it to burst into flames before spiraling down into the ground.  
"Yeah! Take that you bastard!" Jackson yells to himself as he easily avoids the fireball and pushes the throttle forward.  
A transmission from Cassie crackles through, and the more she talks the more the static fades.  
{-not anything I've seen before.}  
"Say again? I only caught the last of that."  
{Climb up above the fog, the area is not anything I've seen before.}  
Jackson gently pulls back on the stick, ascending slowly.  
Suddenly the fog disappears, and Amelia gasps.  
Ahead of them is a large orange forest, the fog hiding the forest floor, leaving the tops of the trees exposed.  
Jackson looks around and finds Cassie high above them, and ascends to fly alongside.  
"Where are we? This isn't Syria."  
{No idea. Let's press on, it might be some sort of oasis.}  
Jackson chirps his microphone and levels out at five thousand feet.  
They fly in silence for several minutes before Kimberly crackles over the radio.  
{Contact! Base radar, one-six-two for forty-six miles!}  
"Roger! You sure it's a base radar?"  
{Yeah, it's way too strong to be a search radar, and its range is too far to be a target radar.}  
"How can you tell?"  
Amelia cuts in before Kimberly can respond.  
{You hotshot fighter pilots wouldn't understand.}  
"Hey! Might I remind you who's flying?"  
The trees and fog give way to a desert, the sand dunes smoothly rolling below.  
"There, that's more like it, Pontiac two switch to radar, we'll cover the radar monitoring."  
{Roger, switching to air radar.}  
They fly for several minutes in silence, scanning the desert floor below for any signs of life.  
Kimberly suddenly crackles over the radio.  
{Multiple contacts! Directly ahead, thirty miles! And...Holy shit, one of them is _huge_.}  
"Roger that, let's light the wick and do a flyby to see what it is."  
There's an increase in volume from Cassie's plane as she kicks into afterburner, shortly followed by Jackson.  
 ***WHOOOOM!***  
Amelia jumps slightly at the sound and looks around for any signs of them being attacked, but finds none.  
{What the hell was that?}  
Jackson chuckles and clicks his microphone.  
"That my dear, was the sound barrier."  
{Roger that, range to contact five miles.}  
There's a large sand dune ahead of them, so tall that at 5,000 feet they have to ascend to miss it, kicking up dust and sand as they streak over the crest.  
Both of the crews stares at the view ahead in awe.  
{I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto.}  
"No shit! What the fuck is that thing?"  
{It almost looks like a stadium of some sort, I've got two lines of smaller craft flying up to and down from it.}  
Ahead of them, above a large city, is a gigantic floating stadium, hovering five thousand feet above the city.  
"Alright, follow me, we're going to check it out."  
Jackson quickly ascends and flies over the object, getting a good view of the open top.  
"Confirmed, that's a stadium, but...what country does it belong to? I don't see any flags or anything."  
They extend back over the desert before coming in for a low pass at 1,500 feet, flying at Mach 1.4.  
The buildings are a blur as they fly over, but Jackson catches a glimpse of what appears to be an airstrip.  
"Tally airport, south side, it's lit up."  
{Solid copy, let's go pay a visit then, shall we?}

 **POV switch- Summer Rose, third person.**

Summer walks briskly through the market, her pure white cloak practically glowing in the morning sun of Vacuo.  
Taiyang follows close behind, in his typical T-shirt and shorts almost blending in with the locals, his blonde hair however...not so much.  
Raven and Qrow called to tell them they were overlooking the airport, having found a good place to eat that didn't have many people.  
Fifteen minutes later they all get a table and sit down, overlooking the airport and a majority of the city.  
Suddenly Tai points up to two black specks on the horizon.  
"Are those nevermore's?"  
Qrow squints at the two objects as they fly over the Vytal festival coliseum with a muffled boom and out of sight.  
"No...they were moving way too fast, they looked like Atlas fighters, but I've never seen any that looked like that before..."  
Summer points at two specks coming from the same direction, much lower this time, but moving the same speed.  
"Here they come again!"  
The two objects grow larger before they fly directly over them in silence, causing Summer to look at Tai with a confused look.  
 ***BOOOM!***  
The sudden noise makes everyone duck, including Raven as the ground vibrates below them for a brief moment.  
"What was that!?" Tai yells, ducking down in his chair.  
"That, was a sonic boom, meaning both of those planes can go faster than the speed of sound."  
Tai looks over at Summer, who is shaking in her seat with her hood up.  
"Hey, we're fine, it's just a noise."  
She slowly straightens up, her silver eyes darting around in fear before she takes a deep breath and pulls her hood back.  
"I-I suppose..."  
Qrow laughs and smiles, poking Summer in the shoulder.  
"Geez Summer, you scare at the smallest of things."  
She turns red and stammers.  
"I-I do not!"  
Qrow opens his mouth to say something, but Raven cuts him off.  
"To be fair, that made all of us jump, including me, so she's not at fault for being scared from that."  
Tai nods and looks out over the airport again.  
"Hey look! They're coming in to land!"  
The rest of the team looks towards the airport.  
Indeed the two planes are on final approach to the runway, doing a formation landing.  
"Forget about food, let's go check out those planes." Qrow says as he stands up, the others follow suit and they head out.

 **POV switch- Amelia, third person.**

As soon as they land both F-105's park as far from the ATC as possible, and the pilots head to the tower to get information on where they are. Leaving the two EWO's to guard the planes.

Amelia stands in the shade of the left wing, an MP-7 cradled in her arms.  
She tenses up when four armed civilians approach from the left side, casually talking to each other while looking at the plane, and she checks to make sure her safety is on.  
When they get within ten feet she slightly raises the weapon, aiming at the gap between them and herself.  
"Halt! That's close enough!"  
The four stop, and the red-haired woman of the group starts to reach for the katana at her hip, but the black haired man next to her stops her.  
"Raven don't, she's just doing her job."  
The woman relaxes and a short woman in a white cloak pipes up.  
"Hello! We don't want any trouble, we just wanted to check out your plane."  
Amelia slightly relaxes, and lowers her weapon.  
"Alright, you can come closer, but only two people at a time."  
The woman in the cloak turns to the redhead and the man who stopped her.  
"You guys go check out the other one, this way we can all look at it from up close."  
The other two nod and walk around the front of the plane.  
Using a shrill whistle Amelia grabs Kimberly's attention and, using several hand signals, relays a message to her.  
 _She's dangerous, stay alert._  
Having relayed that she waves the other two over.  
"What was all the hand signals for?" The blonde guy asks, wiping sweat off his brow.  
"Letting my partner know about your jumpy friend. Please, come into the shade."  
The two walk over and join Amelia in the shade.  
"I like the art on the nose, very interesting." The blonde chuckles, looking up at the front of the plane.  
Amelia shrugs and chuckles.  
"Gotta keep morale up somehow, it's a dangerous job we do."  
The cloaked girl looks at the plane from tip to tail.  
"And what is it that you guys do?"  
Amelia glances over her shoulder to check up on Kimberly and the other two, and they seem to be getting along well.  
"Well, we're what's called wild weasels, our job is to hunt down enemy surface-to-air missile sites and destroy them. It's a crazy job considering we're hunting something that is made to hunt us."  
The two look at each other before the blonde guy speaks up.  
"That's pretty much exactly what we do."  
Amelia raises an eyebrow.  
The cloaked girl stares at her, dumbfounded.  
"We're hunters."  
Amelia tenses up and nervously looks over her shoulder before shifting her weight on her feet.  
"Like, hit-men?"  
The girl opens her mouth to say something but Amelia's radio crackles to life.  
{Amy don't let anyone approach the planes. We've got a map and directions on where to go. There's a man who is willing to base us while we figure out what the hell happened.}  
"Solid copy, we've got some college kids here checking out the planes, what should we do?"  
{Hold them there, we'll be back in a couple minutes.}  
Amelia looks at the two staring at her.  
"You heard him, please remain here. He's probably just going to make you swear to secrecy, then you can be on your way."  
They nod and sit down on the tarmac in the shade of the wing.  
The blonde kid gets a concerned look as he leans to look around Amelia towards the other plane.  
Amelia looks over her shoulder and finds the two kids with their swords out, acting aggressively towards Kimberly.  
"Shit!" Amelia turns and starts running towards the other plane, only slowing to yell over her shoulder.  
"Stay where you are!"  
Kimberly keeps stepping back every time the two take a step forward.  
"Wait! Wait!" Amelia yells as she gets close, slowing down until she's walking.  
"What's the issue?" She asks, stopping in between the two and Kimberly.  
"We're not going to listen to a hotshot fighter pilot! That's what!" The redhead snarls.  
"Hold on, we're not the pilots. I know how to fly sure, but I'm not a pilot. The pilots will be here soon, please just sit down and wait, they just want to have a quick chat and you'll be free to go."  
The man looks at her and puts his sword on his back before grabbing the girl's shoulder.  
"Raven, let's just hear them out, they haven't done anything to deserve the hostility."  
Raven shrugs him off and steps towards Amelia with her sword drawn.  
"Shut up Qrow! I'm not going to do what they want!"  
Suddenly a female voice echoes across the tarmac.  
"RAVEN BRANWEN YOU PUT THAT DAMN SWORD AWAY! NOW!"  
Amelia glances right to see the girl in the cloak stalking over, a murderous look in her silver eyes.  
The girl plants herself in between Amelia and Raven.  
"Save your hostility for the Vytal festival! We're going to wait and that's final!"  
Raven hesitates before putting her sword back in its scabbard.  
There's the running of feet behind them and Amelia glances over her shoulder, revealing Jackson and Cassie sprinting towards them.  
"Alright, here's the deal, anything you guys were told, I'm going to need you to swear to secrecy." Jackson huffs as he stops next to Amelia.  
Summer turns around and nods as the blonde guy walks over.  
Qrow and Raven nod as well.  
Finally the blonde kid nods.  
"Alright, you all have a good day, now please leave, these planes are dangerous to be around when they start up."  
Summer nods and fishes around in her cloak before pulling out a slip of paper, scribbling something on it, and handing it to Amelia.  
"You seem pretty chill, thank you for not shooting my teammates, here's my number." She smiles before pulling up her hood and herding her team away.

After they've left Jackson briefs the flight on where they'll be going, and they head to their planes.  
"You think we've got enough fuel?" Amelia asks Jackson as they climb in, and he nods in response.  
"We should, provided we don't go into afterburner too much."  
Both planes quickly startup and taxi to the runway, taking off without asking permission from the tower.  
As they ascend into the clear blue sky Amelia pulls her phone out of her pocket and saves the number.  
{Alright, Pontiac flight, turn bearing zero-five-four and ascend to angels thirty.} Jackson calls out on the radio, gently banking the plane to face the indicated direction.  
Amelia sighs and settles into her station, her oxygen mask covering her face.  
She pulls down the visor built into her helmet and pulls out her phone again.  
"She's going to love this..."

 **POV switch- Summer, third person.**

As Summer watches the planes take off she has a feeling that they aren't done with them. But her thinking is cut short when a bowl of noodles is placed in front of her.  
Raven stalked off somewhere after they left the airport, she'd be back after she cooled off.  
Taiyang was sitting next to her, watching the two sleek craft accelerate into the sky.  
"That girl was kind of cute, the one we talked with."  
Qrow nods and takes a drink of water.  
"Yeah, and she knew how to use her head before her gun."  
Summer slurps her noodles and enjoys the rich salty flavor before cutting into the conversation.  
"That's why I gave her my number, someone that patient, with that sort of hardware, she could be a valuable friend to have."  
Qrow thinks about that for a minute.  
"Yeah, I was worried that Raven was going to go too far and end up getting herself shot. Those weapons they had looked...different. I wonder how they would perform against aura."  
Summer thinks back to the weapons the two girls had, how small they looked, but small things sometimes have big surprises.  
"Yeah..."  
she trails off before shaking her head and digging into her noodles.  
Glancing up she can't find the two planes anywhere, and the roar of the engines are gone.  
Her mood sinks, and she's about to text the girl as her scroll vibrates.  
"Huh? Oh! It's that girl!"  
She opens the file that was sent.  
Enclosed are two pictures and some text at the bottom.  
The first picture is the girl in a white helmet with some sort of visor pulled down and some sort of mask across her mouth and nose.  
She's giving a thumbs up to the camera with the desert stretching out far below them.  
The other is a picture of the other plane silhouetted against the sun, giving an even better view at the desert.  
The text is a single sentence.  
 _'I might not be a pilot, but I share an office with one.'_  
She shows the picture to Tai and Qrow.  
"That's amazing..."  
Qrow thinks for a second.  
"Ask her what altitude she took those at."  
Summer types in the question and sends it, the girl texts back ten seconds later.  
 _'Thirty thousand feet, flying at 500 knots.'_  
Summer shows it to Qrow, and his jaw drops.  
"Thirty thousand? There's no way, they couldn't have climbed that fast."  
Summer is reminded of something and asks the girl.  
'While we were talking, I noticed the letters YGBSM on your shoulder patch, any significance? Also, I never caught your name.'  
She responds almost immediately.  
 _'My name is Amelia Ellis, and I'm an electronic warfare officer. The letters on the bottom of our patch stand for a famous phrase in the profession. "_ _You've gotta be shittin' me!"_ _'_  
Summer laughs at the response and digs into her noodles, keeping an eye on her scroll while she eats.  
She gets another message and she opens it.  
 _'I imagine you're probably very curious about us, ask any questions you want and I'll answer them as best I can.'_  
Summer asks about small stuff like favorites first, not wanting to pry too deep too soon.  
 _'Well, I always have liked tuna casserole, Jackson (the ginger guy) likes pretty much anything that has plenty of meat, Cassie (the short blonde) likes soup, it doesn't really matter what kind. And finally Kimberly is the same as Jackson, anything with meat.'  
_ Summer likes what she's hearing and asks about family, this time it takes Amelia longer to respond.  
 _'Well, Cassie is my sister. Kimberly is Jackson's sister. Jackson's parents couldn't take care of him when he was born, so my family took him and his sister in.'  
_ Summer gets suspicious about the lack of information about Amelia's family, but decides not to press in case it's a touchy subject.  
Instead she asks about the planes, something she didn't get to do earlier.  
 _'These are F-105G Thunderchief's. We can break Mach 2 at 30,000 feet, and the range is 2,000 miles without an external fuel tank.'_  
Summer raises her eyebrows and smiles, trying to think of another question to ask.  
She gets another message and opens it.  
 _'The person that has offered us a place to stay is named Ozpin. Anybody you know?'  
_ Summer quickly types out a reply.  
'Of course it's somebody I know! He's my school's headmaster!'  
She sends it and then realizes how rude it sounds, so she starts to elaborate, but receives another message.  
 _'Sweet, maybe we'll be able to hang out sometime! Also, you'll have to catch me up on what customs are here, because this isn't like it is at home.'  
_ Summer gets confused by that, "what does she mean at home? This is the way it is everywhere on Remnant. She got confused when I talked about being a huntress."  
Tai thinks about it for a few minutes before speaking.  
"Judging off of how they acted, their weapons, the planes, their clothes, and what that guy said on the radio 'until we find out what happened', don't write this idea off, I know it sounds stupid, but maybe they aren't from Remnant."  
Summer looks at him like he's grown a second head, but Qrow stares off into the sky thoughtfully for a minute before saying anything.  
"He's actually got a point, the markings on their uniforms weren't anything from any currently existing military, and those jets can't hover from what we've seen, meaning they aren't anything new. And we can't ignore the flight characteristics that the girl listed, the only fighters that Remnant has that can go that fast, and climb that fast belong to Atlas, and they don't ever leave Atlas. Add onto that the fact that they don't know what hunters are, and their weapons. There's a very real possibility that they might not be from Remnant, and if they are then they've been living under a rock."  
Summer thinks about it, and slowly nods.  
"Yeah, I guess you might be right. We'll have to ask them sometime, but for right now we need to hurry up and eat, our team match is in an hour."  
Everyone hurries in eating before quickly paying the tab and boarding a ship to the stadium.  
As they're getting off the ship Summer gets another text from Amelia.  
'Before I forget... tell Raven I said "nice hair".'  
Summer smiles and puts her scroll away, joining the group of people walking off.

 **POV switch- Amelia, third person.**

Nearing the place they were flying to Pontiac flight descends to 5,000 feet and starts lining up for the runway, Amelia watches the radar for any contacts, and occasionally checks their six o'clock.  
They ease down and gently land, quickly taxiing to a trio of closed hangars away from the main terminal.  
Jackson stops their Thud in front of the hangar and powers down, taking his sidearm with him as he opens the hangar doors and clears it out.  
He comes back out a few minutes later.  
"Wow, these are really nice hangars, they even have living quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a shower. They have plenty of tools for maintenance too."  
Amelia nods and looks around for a pusher cart, easily finding one parked along the far hangar.  
She jogs over and hops in it, driving it back to the plane before spinning the plane around and pushing it tail-first into the hangar, she quickly follows suit with Cassie's plane too.  
Once done she parks the vehicle in between the two hangars and walks into the hangar that 'total tease' is in.  
"Hey check this out! It's that bunch from earlier today fighting in the coliseum!" Jackson yells from a makeshift living room tucked in the far corner, a holographic television is turned on and he's sitting in a recliner.  
"Really!?" Amelia jogs over and sits on the couch, watching the team fight leaves Amelia in awe.  
"There's no way they should be able to pull off half of those tactics, much less win with them..." She tapers off as Summer takes one of the enemy swordsman out of the match.  
"Damn, she's a bit of a badass!" Jackson chuckles.  
"No kidding, to think that such a timid girl could be capable of that..." Amelia thinks back to how quiet Summer was until Raven threatened her.  
Suddenly the last person on the other team gets taken out by the blonde kid, winning Summer's team the match.  
As the team walks off the arena the picture changes to a middle-aged man with glasses.  
{Hello Pontiac lead, I am headmaster Ozpin of Beacon academy. Glad to see you made it safely to Vale. Before you ask yes I can see and hear you.}  
Amelia doesn't move, she just lays on the couch and listens to what the man has to say.  
"How can we help you sir?" Jackson asks, sitting up in the chair.  
{Well, as of right now, the only way you can help me is by staying out of trouble until I get you registered as citizens of Vale. However, I would like to be the first to welcome you to the world of Remnant, and I would also like to extend an invitation for you and your friends in the other hangar to attend Beacon academy.}  
Amelia and Jackson look at each other for a second.  
"Sure, why not."  
Ozpin looks surprised for a second before chuckling.  
{You don't want to think about it? It's a rather difficult academy.}  
The two aviators both look at each other again before busting out laughing.  
{If I may ask, what is so funny?}  
Amelia does her best to compose herself.  
"Sir, you see that there aircraft behind us?"  
Ozpin nods.  
"We have over a hundred and fifty missions in that aircraft alone, not counting the two that we've had before it. All of said missions were in some of the most dangerous places in the world. If you think your academy is hard, we've been through worse."  
Ozpin looks thoughtfully at them before smiling.  
{Okay then, I shall start on your application forms when I return from the festival, until then please remain in the hangars, there is a rather large library in the third hangar, and as you may have discovered, there are hallways leading between the hangars. Any questions?}  
Amelia raises her hand as if in class.  
"There is the issue of getting our planes refueled and rearmed."  
Ozpin nods and smiles.  
{Yes, yes, I have been working on that ever since you took off from Vacuo. As for fuel, petroleum fuel is rather hard to manufacture, and so it may be a couple days before we can get a constant supply. Resupplying on ammunition however... that will be easier. I have had a shipment sent to your hangar, it should arrive in the morning, should you need anything else please let me know, Major Jackson has my number.}  
The channel changes back to the arena fighting and Amelia looks over at Jackson.  
"I haven't heard anyone call you Major in a long time."  
He chuckles in response and gets up.  
"I know right? I think the last person was that arrogant old prick in Pakistan."  
Amelia turns off the TV and pulls out her scroll before typing out a message to Summer.  
'Nice match, I managed to catch the second half.'  
Summer texts back about a minute later.  
 _'Thanks! I take it that means you've landed safely?'_  
Amelia stands up and walks into the kitchen, checking the cupboards for something easy to munch on while she slowly types out her response.  
'Yeah, we're in Vale, three hangars on the south end of the airfield. When you're in the area you should swing by.'  
Amelia grabs a package of what looks like saltine crackers and heads back to the couch, flopping down on it before opening the newest message.  
 _'Definitely will do! I'll try to keep Raven from finding out, she's still not so sure of you guys. But I think we should be back by tomorrow, the Vytal festival is usually pretty short.'  
_ Amelia smiles and moves her fingers to respond, but Cassie bursts through the door.  
"Amy. You need to see this."


	2. Chapter 2

As they open the doors Amelia freezes, staring at the plane in front of her.

"There's no way. There is _no fucking way_." She whispers to herself as she slowly walks forward, as if her legs have a mind of their own.  
She walks around to the side of the aircraft and looks at the serial number on the tail. "Oh my god..."

she walks to the cockpit and opens the canopy. Inside on the seat is a letter and a small wooden box.  
Cassie stands by the door as Amelia pulls the letter and the box out.  
"Is it...y'know...is it _hers_?"  
Amelia sits down next to the landing gear and unfolds the letter, placing the box beside her.  
After several minutes of reading she puts the letter down and opens the box.  
When she sees what's inside the box tears start to roll down her face.  
"Yeah...it's moms." She sobs, pulling a pair of metal dog tags out of the box. In the stamped letters on the tags is the slight red of dried blood. Amelia wraps the small chain around her hand, leaving the two tags to rest in her palm as she closes the box.  
Cassie walks over and sits next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.  
"I'm fine...it was just the initial shock..." Amelia sniffles as she shrugs her sister off and stands up, slowly climbing into the cockpit.  
"What does the letter say?" Cassie asks, standing up as well.  
Amelia sighs as she sits in the seat, looking over the same controls that she had learned to fly with five years earlier under her mother's instruction.  
"It said that she was done with flying, it cost too much for it to be cost effective, and that all she ever did was bomb ground targets."  
She smiles at the small picture taped to an open spot on the control panel, a picture of her at age 8, sitting in her mother's lap as she points at various controls.  
"I'm gonna ask Ozpin if he knows where she currently lives." Amelia says as she climbs out and drops the four feet to the ground.  
"Don't you think you should wait? That's the sort of thing that's best face-to-face."  
Amelia picks up the letter and the box and freezes after straightening up.  
"I...I suppose... but I'm not gonna accept any bullshit."  
Cassie nods, and Amelia closes the canopy on the fighter before walking towards the door.  
"If she's still alive I am so going to chew her ass out."  
Cassie laughs as they close the door and head back to the hangar containing 'total tease'.

As they walk back into the hangar they find Jackson and Kimberly cleaning the Vulcan Gatling gun.  
"So what was so interesting?" Jackson asks, not looking up from his task.  
"There's an A-7 Corsair in the third hangar, and I know _exactly_ who it belongs to."

* * *

 **Time skip- 26 hours. Current time: 1439 hours.**

There's a knock on the hangar door while Amelia is putting a casserole in the oven.  
"Hey Jackson! Could you get that? I've got my hands full."  
Jackson jumps up and walks over to the door, looking through the peephole before opening it.  
"Welcome! Please, come in, Amy will be right out." He puts on a smile as he steps to the side, allowing Summer and her team to come in.  
Amelia sticks her head out of the window between the hangar floor and the kitchen.  
"Hey guys! Take a seat over by the TV, I'm just gonna clean up real quick."

Amelia takes off the apron she's wearing over her tan T-shirt and shorts, casually throwing it over the back of a chair at the kitchen table as she walks out.  
Qrow, Raven, and the blonde guy are sitting by the television, but Summer is standing by the tail of the F-105, marveling at the aircraft.  
Amelia walks over to the three sitting down first.  
"Y'all want anything to drink? We've got sodas, water, milk, and I'm pretty sure there's a beer tucked in the back too."  
Qrow raises his hand first. "I'll take the beer if it's not too much trouble."  
The blonde guy raises his hand. "I'll take a soda please."  
Raven doesn't respond.  
"You want anything Raven?" Amelia asks as she turns on her heel.  
"No, thank you."  
Amelia shrugs and gets the requested drinks before returning.  
"Here you go, let me know if you need anything else."  
Everyone nods and Amelia walks over to Summer, who is looking at the Vulcan in the nose.  
"You want anything to drink?" Amelia asks, glancing up at Jackson, who is on top of the wing tightening the controls.  
"No thank you." Summer chirps as she continues to walk around the aircraft.  
"You want to hop in my seat? I'll show you around the controls."  
Summers eyes light up and her face beams.  
"You'd do that?!"  
Amelia nods and wheels the ladder over to the fuselage, allowing access to her station.  
"Hey Jackson! You done up there?"  
Jackson gives her a thumbs up as he tightens the panel on top of the wing.  
Summer bounds up the ladder into the seat with the agility of a rabbit, her white cloak flowing out behind her as she sits down.  
Amelia kneels down on top of the boarding ladder and walks Summer through what everything does, even using the opportunity to check the control surfaces.

The entire time Summer looks like a kid in a candy shop, her face showing pure joy as she looks around inside the aircraft.  
"When we get our fuel supplies I could take you up for a flight if you want." Amelia offers when she helps Summer out of the cockpit.  
"That would be awesome!" Summer squeals, the grin on her face spreading.  
Amelia chuckles and helps her down the ladder before sliding down the rail.  
"Sweet, I just hope you don't get motion sickness."  
Summer grins in response and rocks onto the balls of her feet.  
"Nope!"  
Amelia flashes a thumbs up and steers Summer towards the couches.

As they walk under the wing Jackson accidentally drops a wrench, and it hits Amelia on the head when it falls.  
"Ouch! You _dumbass!_ Would you _watch_ where you put your damn tools!?" She curses at him while she rubs the top of her head.  
"Sorry, it slid off." Jackson mumbles when she tosses the wrench up to him.  
Suddenly Qrow stands up.  
"Raven and I need to run some errands, sorry to drink your beer and run."  
Raven stands up too and they walk towards the door.  
"Oh...alright...well, I'll talk to y'all later." Amelia mumbles as they walk past.  
"Yep! Talk to you next time we visit!" Qrow calls over his shoulder as Raven walks out the door.  
Qrow quickly follows her out and closes the door behind him.  
"Well...that was odd.." Amelia mumbles before sitting down in the recliner.  
"I didn't introduce myself when we first met, my name's Taiyang, just call me Tai." The blonde guy holds out his hand and Amelia shakes it before leaning back in the recliner.  
"Nice to meet you Tai." Amelia nods to him as Summer sits down next to him.  
"So...I noticed when we were texting back and forth, you didn't say anything about your family...if it's too personal please say so." Summer is uncertain and definitely uncomfortable as she asks, but Amelia shrugs.  
"Well, my mom disappeared in a dogfight two years ago, and my dad killed himself shortly after, so it's pretty much just been the four of us since then."  
Summer is looks at her with a shocked expression.  
"How can you say something so casually?"  
Amelia smiles and stands up.  
"Follow me."

She leads the way through the second hangar, taking a moment to check in on the two sisters before walking into the third hangar.  
"Behold. An A-7 Corsair belonging to my mom. Meaning she didn't die in the dogfight, somehow she ended up here."  
Summer and Tai follow her to the cockpit, where she pulls the picture off the control panel and shows it to them.  
"This was me and my mom, I was eight when it was taken she taught me how to fly in this very aircraft."  
Summer smiles at the photo, and so does Tai.  
"That's a cute photo. How is she?"  
Amelia shrugs.  
"I don't know, I'm going to ask Ozpin when he-"  
The hangar intercom system suddenly crackles to life.  
{Amy, please report to the main hangar immediately.}  
Amelia smirks and puts the photo back.  
"Speak of the devil, let's go find out."

They jog back through the hangars, and when they get to the farthest one they find Ozpin marveling at the F-105, his cane in front of him.  
"It's a beautiful beast isn't it?" Amelia asks as she walks in.  
"Indeed it is. I was wondering if you'd seen the aircraft in the far hangar?"  
Amelia nods.  
"I was actually going to ask you a question about that. Do you have the current address for the pilot of that aircraft?"  
Ozpin nods. "Yes, why?"  
"Because the pilot of that aircraft is my mother who disappeared two years ago."  
Ozpin raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure it is?"  
Amelia scowls at him in return.  
"Yes sir, there's a picture of me when I was eight years old, and I know the tail number."  
"Would you like me to contact her?"  
Amelia nods. "Yes sir, but don't tell her I'm here. When we get our fuel supply I would like to duel her, to ensure it is indeed the same woman."  
Ozpin smiles and nods.  
"Very well, write me a challenge document and I shall deliver it in person."  
Amelia nods and walks over to the living quarters, and after five minutes returns with an envelope.  
"Here you are, I've listed the date and time, and I have made some special ammunition for the duel."  
Ozpin raises an eyebrow in interest.  
"Oh?"  
Amelia nods and walks over to a large ammo can before opening it.  
"They are what amounts to chalk rounds, they leave a mark on impact that requires lots of soap and water to remove."  
Ozpin pockets the letter.  
"Very well, I would like to let you all know that you are officially citizens of Vale, meaning you may explore the town if you wish."  
Amelia beams.  
"Thank you sir!"  
Ozpin simply nods.  
"Now, if you'd excuse me, I must be leaving, I have papers to grade, Students, if you'd please accompany me back to Beacon."  
Summer and Tai nod, slowly shuffling to the door.  
"I shall see you again soon Pontiac flight." Ozpin calls over his shoulder as he walks out, closing the door behind him.

"Well then, let's get the plane ready! I want that Vulcan loaded with that special ammo! I'm going to go load the Corsair with its share of ammo! The fight is in twenty one hours!" She yells as she walks over to the intercom.  
"Pontiac two, report to the main hangar immediately."  
Thirty seconds later Cassie and Kimberly run in.  
"Kimberly, help Jackson get the Thud ready, Cassie, we're getting the Corsair ready. Let's move!"  
Everyone jumps into action, carrying ammunition, checking parts and control surfaces.

Two hours later Amelia sets up live-feed cameras to both of the planes, which stream directly to a recorder unit stashed inside each aircraft when the master power switch is flipped.

Satisfied, Amelia checks on the casserole and considers it done.  
"Come and get it!" She yells into the hangar from the kitchen as she carries the casserole over to the table.

After being fed, bathing, and getting ready for bed, the flight goes to sleep for the night, and for once nobody has nightmares.

* * *

Morning comes later than expected, and Amelia knows just the trick to wake up her sister.  
With the help of Jackson they drag her out back in her undergarments and set her in a folding chair before washing her down with the garden hose.  
Once that is finished Amelia heads in to find her scroll beeping.  
The message is from an unknown number, who Identifies himself as Ozpin.  
 _'And I quote, "challenge accepted, don't be late." best of luck today.'_  
Amelia smiles and quickly gets dressed in her combat gear, including parachute, harness, and pilots vest.  
"Well, that's one clue that it's probably her, she never stepped down from a challenge."

She spends the rest of the morning personally checking the aircraft, and as the clock strikes noon she fuels up both aircraft.  
When 1500 comes around both aircraft are sitting in front of their hangars. Amelia puts her helmet on and tucks her hair into her flight suit before heading out to the plane, followed by Jackson in his flight gear.  
As agreed on the previous night over dinner, she would be flying, and Jackson would simply be there to be a referee of sorts for the fight.  
Amelia hauls herself into the pilot's seat and buckles in before beginning the startup procedure she'd watched Jackson do a couple hundred times.  
She gets it flawlessly, and soon the engine roars to life.  
She tunes her comms stack to the designated channel for the fight and closes the canopy, dulling the whining roar behind her.  
Looking off to her left she sees a tall woman climbing into the Corsair, her brown hair hanging down to her lower back. When the woman turns her head to look at the F-105 Amelia throttles up and starts taxiing to the runway. Soon she hears the engine of the Corsair start up and a female voice crackles over the radio.  
{This is Viking one, ready to roll, requesting your designation.}  
Amelia doesn't say anything as planned, Jackson's job is to handle communications.  
"Roger that Viking one, this is Pontiac one, we are also ready to fight. Take off when ready and proceed to the discussed locations."  
Amelia turns onto the runway and throttles up, kicking the aircraft into full afterburner as she rockets down the runway.  
She gently pulls back on the stick and the plane responds, soon they're airborne, cruising at twenty-five thousand feet.  
{Pontiac one, this is Viking one, location reached, ready to commence.}  
"Roger that Viking one, standby, standby, _fight's on_."  
Amelia cranks the aircraft around and locks up the Corsair with radar, they pass each other on the right wing and soon the dogfight commences.

* * *

After fifteen minutes of gut-wrenching maneuvers, and blackout-inducing turns. The Corsair makes the first and only mistake.  
Amelia is in a hard right turn, with the A-7 close behind her pulling lead.  
She cuts throttle, pops the speed brakes, and unloads from the turn momentarily, causing the Corsair to overshoot and fly straight in front of Amelia.  
She doesn't give the pilot a second chance.  
 ***BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!***  
She holds down the trigger, and red splotches appear all over the Corsair as it flies past.  
"Fight concluded! All units RTB!" Jackson cheers over the radio.

* * *

The two planes fly side-by-side the entire way back to the airfield, and even when they get below 10,000 feet Amelia keeps her oxygen mask on to maintain anonymity from the other pilot.  
Fifteen minutes later they both touch down smoothly at the Vale airport, and taxi to the hangars.  
After powering down Amelia sits in her seat and breathes, calming herself.  
After two minutes she jumps out and walks to the woman standing in between the two craft.  
"So...who _are_ you?"  
Amelia unhooks her mask and takes off her helmet, pulling her hair out of her flight suit before staring into the face mask of the woman standing in front of her.  
"Hello _mother_."  
The woman takes off her helmet, revealing the same colored eyes that Amelia sees every time she looks in a mirror.  
"Amelia...?"  
She drops her helmet and runs forward, slamming into the woman and wrapping her up in a hug.  
"I missed you so much..." She sobs into the green flight suit, tears streaming down her face as her mom hugs her back.  
"I know, I missed you too...I'm so glad you're safe."  
There's a flash behind them and Amelia looks over to find Jackson holding a camera.  
"What? Got to get pictures, this is a big moment."  
Amelia smiles and nods before adjusting to stand beside her mom, she quickly scoops up her helmet and holds it under her arm.

Jackson snaps another picture and turns to the hangar, cupping his hands on the sides of his mouth.  
"PONTIAC TWO GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE NOW!"  
Cassie and Kimberly come sprinting out of the hangar, and Cassie stops when she sees her mom, staring for a second in disbelief.  
"Yeah Cass, it's really her." Amelia chuckles, hugging her mom from the side.  
Cassie sprints forward and jumps at her mom, hugging her in the same fashion that Amelia did.  
"Oof! You're too big to do that now kiddo."  
Cassie goes to say something but there's a voice from behind her.  
"Janet Ellis, it would seem you've gotten your first family back. Congratulations."  
The three turn around to find Ozpin standing there, leaning on his cane.  
"Yes I have, thank you sir." Janet smiles while crying, pulling her two girls together. Ozpin walks over to Jackson and takes the camera before gently pushing him and Kimberly towards the three.  
"Go on, we need a picture with all of you."  
They all line up with ' _total tease_ ' in the background, and Ozpin snaps multiple pictures.  
"These are worthy of each person getting a copy." He says as he hands the camera back to Jackson.  
"Indeed sir. Now..." he turns to the group. "What d'ya say we all head into town?"  
Everyone nods in agreement, and Amelia gets the planes pushed back into the hangars before they leave, still dressed in their flight suits.

* * *

They head to a diner, where they sit down at a large table in a side room.  
"So, what have I missed?" Janet asks, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table.  
"Well, let's see here...Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, civil war broke out in Syria, they almost had a civil war in Turkey except it got absolutely demolished. The US pulled out of Iraq, and now there's some extremist group raising hell there. So yeah, plenty of fun missed." Amelia counts off on her fingers.  
"I was talking about with your dad..." Janet corrects.  
Amelia and Cassie look at each other for a second.  
"Erm...mom...there's something I need to tell you..." Amelia says as she takes on a rather sad look.  
"Dad...he killed himself a month after you disappeared."  
Janet adopts the same depressed look and stares into her glass.  
"Oh...I'm sorry girls..."  
Amelia reaches over the table and puts a hand on her shoulder.  
"Don't be, you disappearing wasn't by choice. If anything it brought the four of us closer, and we've all fought like hell since then."  
Janet looks up at her in surprise.  
"You guys didn't quit? I figured you would pack it up and head home to do airshows or something."  
Amelia smiles and sits back down in her chair.  
"Nope! We've been in every major shit-show since you disappeared. We figured you'd want us to keep fighting."  
Janet smiles and nods.  
"Yeah, you know me too well. So where were you before you guys ended up in Remnant?"  
Amelia pulls a map out of her vest and lays it over the table.  
"Syria, backing the government, tough fight."  
Janet looks at the map and takes a drink of water.  
"Mhm, looks like it. Any serious threats?"  
Amelia nods and points at an airfield.  
"Yeah, we had at least a dozen MIG's of various construction backed up with a ton of SAM's and triple-A. We were running from a flight of MIG's when we popped up here." She straightens up and turns to Jackson. "That reminds me, we need to paint a victory mark."  
Jackson nods and sets a reminder on his phone.  
"So what was your count when you guys landed here?" Janet asks as plates heaped with food are placed on the table.  
"You really want to know?" Amelia chuckles, giving a sly grin.  
"Of course! I want to know how my trainees have been faring!"  
Amelia pulls a small memo pocketbook out of her vest and flips the pages a few times.  
"Twelve MIG-17's, twenty seven MIG-21's, eight MIG-23's, four MIG-25's, three F-5's, and one F-4."  
She looks up from the book.  
"And that's just the air kills."  
Janet stares at her with raised eyebrows.  
"All in a Thud?"  
Amelia waves her hands in front of her.  
"No, no, no. Some were in an F-4."  
Janet gives an understanding nod before digging into the heap of food in front of her.  
"So Ozpin said something about your 'old family'? Does that mean you started a family here?"  
Janet nods and swallows her food.  
"Yes I have, if you would like we could go see them when we're done here."  
Amelia smiles and nods.  
"I would be delighted to meet my new siblings."

Lunch goes by quickly, and since she lost the duel Janet gets to pay the bill.  
They drive to the residential district of Vale, and Janet turns into the driveway of a large red 2 story house with a 2 car garage.  
"Nice place." Amelia chirps as she gets out.  
"Thanks, it was kindly donated to me by your lovely headmaster Ozpin after I quit flying." Janet leads the way up the stairs to the door and walks in.  
"Honey I'm home! You will not believe who I found!"  
A male voice calls back from upstairs.  
"Welcome home! How'd the duel go?!"  
Janet waves everyone in and closes the door.  
"I put up a good fight! But I actually lost!"  
" _Lost?_ How? Who?" The voice calls back as Janet waves Amelia forward and pulls her up the stairs.  
They reach the top of the stairs and round the corner, where a black-haired man is feeding a small child the last of a bottle.  
"Howard, meet Amelia, my oldest daughter."  
The man looks up, silhouetting what looks to be black cat ears against the window behind him.  
He puts the bottle on the coffee table and stands up, gently handing Janet the child.  
"It's an honor to meet you, your mom spoke so highly of you when she and I first met."  
They shake hands and Amelia partially bows in respect.  
"And it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm glad mom found someone who could keep up with her full-afterburner lifestyle in this world." He laughs, taking the child back from Janet.  
"Well, it took some hard-fought mock dogfights to convince her I could keep up. I used to be a fighter pilot for Atlas."  
Amelia grins.  
"That explains it, someone of equal caliber!"  
He nods, a big grin spreading across his face.  
Amelia looks down the stairs and waves the rest of her team up.  
"Come on guys, you'll go toe-to-toe with MIG's but you won't come meet my step-dad?"  
Janet laughs at that, and herds the group up the stairs into the living room.  
Amelia has them line up and introduces them.  
"This is Cassie, my little sister. And moving down the line are Jackson and Kimberly, adopted siblings."  
Howard shakes each of their hands before sitting down.  
"Please, make yourselves comfortable."  
Everyone finds some place to sit, whether that be on the floor, or on the couch.  
Amelia sits down at her mom's feet, resting her head against the woman's knees.  
"So how did you get to Remnant? How was the transfer?" Janet asks, rubbing Amelia's shoulders.  
Amelia thinks of a way to describe it.  
"Well, we took a wrong turn at Albuquerque."  
This provokes a round of laughter from everyone except Howard, who furrows his brow.  
"I don't get it."  
Amelia grins and explains.  
"It's a joke from a cartoon we all used to watch as kids. There's a rabbit that always gets into some sort of crazy situation and claims he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque."  
Howard gives an acknowledging nod and smiles.  
Janet flicks her on the back of the head.  
"Okay but seriously, what did you fly through to get here?"  
Cassie finally speaks up.  
"It was a fog bank, we were running from a flight of MIG-21's, and tried to use it to cover our retreat."  
Janet nods slowly.  
"I was running from a SU-27 and tried to use the clouds."  
"It wasn't just one, it was five." Amelia grumbles, fiddling with her gloves.  
"Okay... So maybe it was..." Janet grumbles back.  
"Wait, you took on five SU-27's and won?" Jackson asks, his eyebrows raised.  
"I wouldn't say I won, I just didn't lose..." Janet mumbles sheepishly, twiddling her thumbs.  
"Well said mom." Amelia chuckles as her phone goes off in her pocket.  
She pulls it out and taps on it a few times.  
She reads the message over twice before handing her phone to her mom.  
Janet reads the message and smiles.  
"Well, I guess that means I'm back in business!" Janet chirps, handing Amelia her phone.  
"Woo!" Amelia cheers, throwing her arms up in celebration.  
"You mean you're back to flying?" Cassie asks, a hopeful look in her eyes.  
"Yup! Ozpin just said that Beacon would pay for fuel and munitions if we would help teams on dangerous missions."  
Another message chimes on Amelia's phone.  
"And he said that if we could provide designs for heavy weapons he would have them manufactured. I'm thinking TV missiles, GBU's, napalm, and FFAR's. Any objections?"  
Nobody has anything to say.  
"Awesome, I'll get on the designs when we get back to the hangar."  
Janet taps her on the head.  
"Actually, I've already got designs for those, all except for the missiles. I've got designs for AGM-65E's."  
Amelia sits up and turns around.  
"Why...?"  
Janet smiles and shrugs before standing up.  
"I used to fight in some third-world countries, I kept them with me in case I needed them built."  
She walks out of the room for a minute before coming back with several rolled-up blueprints.  
"Here, these should suffice."  
Amelia takes the blueprints and places them in her lap.  
"What all do you have?"  
Janet counts on her fingers as she lists off.  
"AIM-7, AIM-54C, AIM-9, Mk82, AGM-65, napalm B, CBU-24, and Hydra rockets."  
Amelia grins and stands up.  
"That will do nicely. Well, I should take these to Ozpin, so we can be ready as soon as possible."  
Janet jams a hand into her pocket and retrieves a set of keys.  
"Here, take my car, try not to wreck it." She chuckles as she throws the keys to Amelia.  
"I'll try, no guarantees." Amelia laughs back as she catches them, slowly walking towards the door with the blueprints tucked under one arm.  
The rest of the Pontiac flight stands up and follows her.  
"I'll have your car back by dusk!" Amelia calls over her shoulder as she walks out the door.

* * *

When the airship rises over the small hill between Vale and Beacon Amelia gasps at the sheer size of the school.  
"Jesus, it's bigger than Harvard." Jackson mumbles as they land, the large stone pillars making even the tallest of students milling about seem like ants in comparison.  
"How would you know what Harvard looks like? You've never gone to college." Amelia pokes him in the ribs.  
"Because I've flown over it multiple times, and it doesn't even begin to compare..."  
They walk into the front doors and promptly get lost in the maze of hallways, forcing them to ask directions from a student.  
"Excuse me, could you give us directions to the headmasters office?" Amelia asks, clasping her hands in front of her.  
"Sure thing, I'll even guide you, right this way." The black-haired woman responds, stashing her book in a satchel on her shoulder.  
With her help they easily navigate the maze of stairs and hallways, arriving at the headmaster's office mere minutes later.  
"Thank you very much, I wish I had some way to pay you back." Amelia bows to her as she points to an elevator.  
"Oh it's no problem, I had trouble my first time here as well." The woman gives a friendly smile and bows back before leaving.  
They pile into the elevator and patiently wait as it ascends.  
When the doors open they step out to find Ozpin sitting at his desk, grading papers.  
"Good day headmaster, in light of your message I have brought blueprints." Amelia says as she steps forward, offering the blueprints to him.  
"Rather convenient, I just finished your entrance forms and schedules. Meaning you will be expected in class tomorrow. Here are your schedules, in passing time between Professor Port's class and Professor Goodwitch's class there will be an airship waiting at the landing pad, have your aircraft ready to fly, you will be doing a demonstration for the entire class."  
He takes the blueprints and places them on his desk before handing Amelia the team's schedules.  
"Yes sir! Will this include a dogfight? Or will it be simply an airshow?" Amelia asks as she snaps a salute to him.  
"Well, it is a combat class, so a dogfight would help you get on the professor's good side." He grins at the salute and takes a sip of coffee.  
"Very well, we will be ready." Amelia nods as her team starts to move towards the elevator.  
"Also, there is one more thing that I need for you to do." Ozpin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a fat stack of money.  
"Seeing as how your currency is not valid on Remnant, take this and go buy yourselves some clothes. You may keep whatever you do not spend. You'd do well to buy some school supplies as well."  
Amelia takes the money and pockets it before snapping another salute and turning on her heel.  
"Yes sir, we will do so immediately." She calls over her shoulder as she walks to the open elevator.  
"Additionally miss Ellis." Ozpin calls after her, causing her to look over her shoulder. "Your mother asked that I had a series of weapons made for you and your team, they should be ready by the end of the week."  
Amelia nods and smiles.  
"Copy that sir."  
She walks into the elevator, and the doors close behind her.  
"A series of weapons? What do you think that's about?" Jackson asks, leaning against the back of the elevator.  
"Knowing mom? It's probably a plane." Amelia chuckles, pulling the stack of money out of her pocket and counting it out.  
"Here, that's a quarter of what he handed me for everyone. Remember, clothes and school supplies first."  
Everyone nods in response as the elevator doors open.  
"Alright! Let's see if we can get out of this maze." Amelia huffs as she leads the way.

 _ **30 minutes later**_

"Alright! We're lost." Amelia groans as she throws her arms up in frustration.  
"These look like dorms, maybe we could ask for help?" Cassie says as she points to a door.  
"Fine..." Amelia huffs back and raps on the door a couple times, a metal plate on it reads STRQ.  
After ten seconds or so the door is opened, and in the doorway stands a familiar figure.  
"Hey Summer! We uh...we kinda got lost trying to find our way out, and I was wondering if you could help us..." Amelia turns her eyes to the floor in defeat.  
"Sure! I was just getting ready to head into town for some supplies anyways." Summer chirps back in her usual carefree attitude as she pulls up her hood.  
"Lead the way, you know where to go." Amelia gives her an 'after you' gesture.

After a mere five minutes Summer had led them outside, and they're flying back to Vale on a shuttle.  
"So...do you happen to know any good clothes stores? We need to get something new to wear, Ozpin's orders." Amelia asks, nervously shifting on her feet.  
"I know a few...you looking for fashion or functionality?" Summer asks, a certain glimmer in her eyes.  
"Functionality please, no dresses or corsets. Uniforms would be great."  
Summer taps her chin with her index finger for a minute before nodding slowly.  
"I know a place, it's kinda far though."  
Amelia shrugs and pulls a set of keys out of her pocket.  
"Not an issue, my mom let me borrow her car."  
"Oh...speaking of which, how did the duel go?"  
Amelia grins and flashes a thumbs up. "I won."  
"Really? Being as how she was your mentor I figured you were going to lose."  
Amelia shrugs.  
"She's out of practice, the last time she had a decent opponent was two years ago when she disappeared."  
Summer nods in understanding as the ship docks and the ramp lowers.  
Amelia leads the way to the car, and everyone climbs in, Summer calling the front seat so she can give directions easier.  
They arrive ten minutes later, and Amelia parks out front of the store.  
As they're all walking in the first thing Amelia notices is military dress uniforms.  
"Oh yes, this is the right place."  
Summer grins and leads them down a row of isles before stopping.  
"Camouflage combat uniforms and protective equipment. I figured this would fit your fancy."  
Amelia walks down the aisle and grabs a pair of woodland pants.  
"I like the durability...but camouflage fatigues really aren't my style...do these come in black?"  
Summer nods and points to the next aisle down.  
The group disperses around the store while Amelia and Summer check out the fatigues.  
Soon Amelia has 4 pairs of black pants and green shirts picked out, which she quickly takes up to the front register and purchases.  
"Alright, now that I've got functionality out of the way, now we can do fashion. I'm really loving the look you've got, so you want to lead on?"  
Summer shrugs and nods as the rest of the group finishes paying for their stuff.  
They all quickly pile into the car again and Summer directs them to another store, this one being slightly more exquisite in nature than the last.  
"Alright, so first we need to get you measured out." Summer explains as they enter, the rest of the group deciding to stay in the car.  
"Damn it...I knew this was coming..." Amelia groans, slumping her shoulders as Summer waves over the shop owner.  
"Hello, nice to see you again! She needs to get measured for a cloak." Summer chirps to the woman, who quickly steers Amelia over to a secluded area and measures her up.  
After five minutes or so Amelia comes back out, followed shortly by the shop owner.  
"How many would you like and what colors?" The woman asks, a smile on her face.  
"Four. One charcoal black, one coyote tan, one olive drab, and one a simple gray."  
The woman nods and quickly disappears into the back room.  
"This'll probably take about ten minutes, you sure you don't want to look at some dresses?" Summer asks, looking pointedly at a bunch of dresses on display.  
"Absolutely positive. I've never looked good in a dress." Amelia scowls at Summer, who changes her attention to a row of leather jackets.  
"These on the other hand..." Amelia trails off as she picks up out, the wool liner feeling incredibly soft and warm.  
"I'm going to have to get a couple of these."  
She picks out three of the warm jackets and takes them up to the front desk, looking through some scarfs while she waits.  
Soon the store owner comes back out with Amelia's cloaks draped over her arm.  
"Here you are, would you like to try one on now?"  
Amelia nods and the woman passes her the gray cloak, and with some assistance from Summer she gets it sitting perfectly.  
"Oh this is lovely..." Amelia marvels at her reflection in the mirror, striking a pose with her hood up.  
Summer laughs at her and does the same next to her.  
"With our hair color we could almost be mistaken for sisters." Amelia giggles as she pulls out her wallet and pays for everything, stuffing the clothes in a bag before bowing to the owner and leaving.

* * *

They drop Summer off at a weapon shop and drive back to Janet's house, where they socialize some more before Janet drives them back to the hangar.  
"Hey, what's with all the construction equipment? You having more hangars built?" Amelia asks as Janet helps them carry all the new clothes into the hangar.  
"Yep! You'll find out why soon." Janet chirps, a mischievous grin on her face.  
"I already know, but you being so direct about it only makes me more nervous." Amelia grumbles as she places the bags of clothes on her bunk.  
"Oh I'm sure you'll love it dear." Janet chuckles and slaps Amelia on the back.  
Amelia mumbles something about deathtraps as she hangs her newly acquired cloaks on some hooks at the foot of her bunk.  
"What was that sweetie?" Janet looks over her shoulder.  
"Nothing!" Amelia chirps back, taking of the gray cloak and hanging it with the others.  
"Thought so, anyway, let me know if you need anything, I've got to scrub the last of the paint off my plane."  
"Actually, I do need one thing. We're having a mock dogfight in combat class tomorrow. I need you to play the aggressor."  
"I don't see why not..." Janet sighs, slightly slumping her shoulders as she walks down the stairs to the hangar floor.  
Amelia smirks as she continues putting her new clothes in the small foot locker under her bunk, carefully folding and organizing them in full sets for ease of access.  
After some quality time helping her mom scrub the paint off the Corsair Amelia invites her to stay for dinner, but she politely declines and leaves once her plane is ready for the next day.  
The rest of the evening passes quickly, the only notable thing that happens is after dinner they venture to a convenience store and buy some school supplies.  
After getting back Amelia conducts some casual conversation with Summer before retiring to bed for the night.

* * *

Her nightmares come in bursts, unclear and sudden. All of the bursts she experiences are unknown events, things she's never experienced before.  
In the final nightmare of the night she's floating towards earth, a large circular parachute above her head. Below her stretches out a large thick forest.  
She watches as a familiar looking F-105 and an A-7 circle her, as if protecting her from something.  
Then as she reaches the forest canopy everything goes black.

* * *

She bolts up in bed, her heart racing as she looks to identify any sort of threat.  
"Hey, it's me, take a breath, it's time to get up." Jackson cautiously murmurs as he inches towards her.  
She jumps at his voice, but quickly calms down, her skin clammy with sweat.  
"Let me guess, nightmare?" He asks as he sits down next to her.  
"Yeah...I'm fine now..." she runs her fingers through her hair as she pulls a change of clothes out of her footlocker.  
"Good, go take a shower and get ready, we leave in thirty."  
He stands up and wakes the others as Amelia heads into the bathroom, her clothes tucked under one arm.  
The shower doesn't take long, five minutes if that. However drying her long hair takes another fifteen minutes before she has to get ready, leaving her hair slightly damp as she leaves the bathroom and puts her flight suit, vest, and parachute on as a force of habit.  
"Hey, you know we have a class before we need to take off right?" Cassie mumbles sleepily as she does the same.  
"Yeah, but passing time in between classes is only ten minutes, so we'll have to light the fires as soon as we get here."  
Cassie thinks about it and nods, clipping her vest together at the sides before she throws the strap of a satchel containing her school supplies over her shoulder.  
Amelia looks around and grabs her gray cloak, throwing it on as she grabs her school bag.  
Walking down the stairs from the living quarters they find Kimberly and Jackson in the same getup, ready to fly, with their bags on their shoulders.  
"Let's go, we don't want to be late on our first day at school." Jackson teases, adjusting the strap on his bag.  
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming." Cassie grumbles, her eyes half-shut as she walks towards the door.  
"I'll buy you coffee when we get there." Jackson offers, immediately grabbing her attention.  
"Deal."

* * *

When they walk outside they're surprised to find an airship waiting for them, and they quickly climb in, finding the seats rather comfortable as the ship accelerates towards the monolithic school in the distance.  
"I'll be here in three hours to pick you guys up!" The pilot yells back into the cabin as they land and pile out, Amelia jogs to the front of the craft and gives him a salute to let him know they're all out.  
The airship flies away, leaving the group of four to walk to the cafeteria in the early pre-sunrise light, the red sky on the horizon painting a beautiful picture against the cafeteria windows as they take a side entrance.  
Not surprisingly the cafeteria is nearly empty, roughly a dozen scattered people occupy the entire space, most being dressed in workout clothes as they wolf down their food.  
As discussed earlier Jackson retrieves four cups of coffee while the others get trays of food. They sit at the far end of a row of tables, clear away from anyone else.  
Nobody says anything until Cassie and Kimberly finish their first cups of coffee and return with a re-filled cup.

"Alright, so we've all got three classes today, I talked to Summer last night and she's willing to be our guide for the week until we find our way around. Today we have..."

Amelia pauses as she pulls her schedule out of a vest pocket.

"First we have Grimm studies...whatever that is, I'll talk to the teacher before class. Then we have Combat class, where we'll strut our stuff the only way we know how. And finally we've got history. I know we'll all be tired after pulling G's, but try your best to stay awake, I'll see if I can have the teacher brew us a pot of coffee. If he won't then I'll buy a thermos and fill it up here in the morning tomorrow. Any questions?"  
Jackson raises two fingers off the table. "Yeah, are those guys over there doing what I think they're doing?"  
Amelia pivots around and looks towards where he's looking, to find four very bulky men standing around a skinny girl, one has her pinned to the wall.  
"Yep, good eye. Back me up." Amelia says as she quickly gets out of her seat and jogs over.

Amelia pushes through the barrier of muscle surrounding the girl and puts on her best act.  
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Come on, Goodwitch said she wanted to see you before class today." She says as she wraps an arm over the girl's shoulders and guides her back through the opening she made pushing through.  
She leans into the girl's ear and whispers. "Get out of here as fast as you can and get a teacher, things are about to get ugly."  
The girl nods and runs off as the guy that had her pinned to the wall yells after Amelia.  
"Hey! Where do you think you're going? I've got a bone to pick with you."  
Amelia stops in her tracks and turns around, the man is standing mere feet away from her.  
She crosses her arms across her chest and stares him in the eyes.  
"Oh really? Just because I needed to relay a message to a friend?"  
He steps closer, and Amelia resists the urge to step back as he invades her personal space.  
"No, because you interrupted the conversation I was having with her. I've never seen you before, where you from?"  
Amelia chuckles and puts her hands on her hips, leaning forward slightly and acting sassy.  
"First off, _tough shit_ fatass, work comes before pleasure. Second, that's none of your fucking business where I come from, just know that if you want any sort of support when you get into a tough spot, you better clean up your act."  
The guy sneers at her and grabs her by the throat, lifting her off the ground slightly.  
"And why do you think I'd ever want to get support from a scrawny toothpick like you?"  
"Because, when I'm fully kitted out I carry enough firepower to level this school."  
The man stares at her for a second before throwing his head back and roaring with laughter, his eyes closed.  
Suddenly the taste of metal and weapon oil occupies his mouth, quickly followed by a quiet *click*.  
He stops laughing and opens his eyes.  
Amelia has her m1911a1 pulled out of the cross-draw holster on her vest, and it's stuffed in his mouth clear down to the trigger guard.  
"I suggest you put me down _immediately_. _Before_ I splatter your brain stem all over the wall behind you." Her voice is venomous as she stares him in the eyes, her brown eyes filled with rage.  
His friends rush forward to help, but the other three of Pontiac flight walk up, pistols drawn and aimed at them.  
He puts her down slowly and raises his hands above his head, in response Amelia pulls her pistol out of his mouth and wipes it on his shirt before putting it back in her holster and taking a step back.  
"Remember, you represent the whole of the school as a single individual. If people see you bullying someone they're going to judge the rest of us based on your actions." She turns away from him and walks in between Cassie and Kimberly, who keep their weapons trained on the four men as they back away slowly, making a partition behind Amelia.

Amelia smiles briefly, but stops when she sees a woman who looks like a librarian burst through the large cafeteria doors, a riding crop in her hand.  
"Pontiac flight stand down!" Amelia yells as the woman sees them and starts stalking over.  
The others quickly holster their pistols before the woman reaches them, but they keep the partition between Amelia and the four men.  
"Your first day here and you are already starting trouble? I should have known." The woman snarls, stopping in front of Amelia, who snaps to attention.  
"No ma'am, we noticed the four men behind me bullying a girl based on unknown reasons, and as a member of a private military unit I could not allow it to continue ma'am." Amelia states in a very military-like fashion as the woman bends the riding crop in her hands.  
The woman glares at her through her glasses before nodding slowly.  
"Very well, at ease."  
Amelia shifts to the parade rest position as the woman glares at the four men.  
"You four. My office. _Now._ " She snarls.  
The four quickly file out of the cafeteria, a look on their faces that Amelia recognizes as the ' _oh shit, we're fucked'_ look that she'd seen before in various conflicts.  
The woman sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose under her glasses before turning her attention back to Amelia.  
"Please refrain from starting any fights in the future, if you need to solve a dispute with someone, please wait until combat class."  
Amelia nods slowly. "Ma'am, with all due respect, one of them started the physical contact, I merely ended it in one of the only ways I know how."  
The woman puts the riding crop under her arm and raises an eyebrow at Amelia. "And how would that be?"  
"Well, I stuck my sidearm in his mouth and told him that if he did not cease his actions I was going to kill him." Amelia states very matter-of-factly.  
"...you aren't much of a 'people person', are you?"  
Amelia shakes her head in response. "No ma'am, that is why I'm a pilot, less people to deal with."  
The woman smirks at that and the rest of the team stands at Amelia's flanks.  
"I am Glynda Goodwitch, your combat instructor. I look forward to your demonstration later today. Now if you would excuse me, I have some rapscallions to deal with..." she addresses them all before turning around.  
"Of course ma'am. Erm, one minor request, could you ask Professor Oobleck to brew us some coffee on my behalf? The stresses put on the body during aerial maneuvers is very taxing on the body."  
Goodwitch stops for a second before nodding. "Of course, I'll do so on my way to my office."  
She walks away briskly, leaving the team to sit back down and finish their breakfast in relative peace.  
"You know you never loaded a magazine into your pistol, right?" Jackson chuckles quietly as Amelia finishes her orange juice.  
"Yeah, I was kinda hoping he wouldn't call my bluff." Amelia shrugs while speaking into her half-finished glass.  
"And what would you have done if he did?"  
Amelia puts her empty glass down and picks her fork back up.  
"Probably would've pistol-whipped him." She shrugs again before stabbing a lump of eggs and eating it.  
"Glad to see you're planning ahead." Jackson sighs sarcastically before taking a bite out of a sausage link.

A tray is suddenly set down next to Amelia, making her flinch. When she looks up at the owner though she relaxes.  
"Oh, hey Summer, you're up early."  
Summer sits down next to her with a smile, her white cloak flowing out behind her, contrasting against Amelia's gray cloak. "Nope! I'm always up this early. A habit I gained while going to Signal academy."  
Amelia smiles and offers a sausage link.  
"No thank you. So, what're you guys doing up so early?"  
Amelia eats the sausage before replying.  
"Comes with the job. Oh-four-hundred, get up, eat, brief. Oh-six-thirty, take off and hit enemy targets before everyone wakes up."  
Summer nods slowly as she chews a mouthful of eggs, giving Amelia a 'go on' gesture.  
"Then we return to base, refuel and rearm, then either eat lunch or take of immediately to hit them again. The second run is always the most dangerous, as everyone is fully awake and waiting for us to fly within range of their weapons."  
Summer swallows her eggs and points at Amelia with her fork.  
"So you guys do that every day?"  
Amelia nods in response and sips at her coffee, the last thing remaining in front of her.  
"Why?"  
Amelia chuckles. "Money."  
Summer looks at her like she's grown a second head. "Is the pay really that good?"  
Amelia sets her cup down and pulls out her wallet, pushing the Lien out of the way with her thumb before she pulls out a bulging white envelope and slaps it down on the table. "See for yourself."  
Summer picks up the envelope and opens it, pulling out a thick stack of $100 bills.  
"Wow...how much is this...?"  
Amelia pulls a small slip of paper out of her wallet and reads it.  
"Five thousand United States dollars, enough to bribe any self-respecting third world grunt back home to let me go should I be captured."  
Summer stares at the money for a moment before putting it back in the envelope and offering it to Amelia.  
"Keep it, I don't need it anymore, think of it as a souvenir." Amelia says as she puts her wallet back in her pocket.  
"Erm...thanks? How easy was it to get this much?" Summer asks, putting the envelope in her bag.  
"One three-hour bombing mission, a 'milk run' as we call it."  
Summer furrows her brow and tilts her head to one side.  
"Oh come on summer, you can figure that one out. I'm comparing a usually dangerous action to a drive to the store to get milk, meaning there was no resistance whatsoever. Come on, eat your breakfast so we can go talk to Professor Port, I need to ask him some questions."  
Summer nods and wolfs down her food so fast Amelia wonders if she's even chewing.  
"Right then! Follow me!" Summer chirps a mere minute later, picking up her now empty tray.  
Everyone jumps up and grabs their trays, leaving them with the KP crew to clean while Summer leads them to a large lecture hall.

* * *

A stout mustached man sitting at a teacher's desk ignores them until Amelia and the others approach.  
"Professor Peter Port?" Amelia asks, standing at parade rest.  
"Yes? How may I help you four?" He looks up from a document he was reading.  
"We were accepted last night sir, we were wondering if you could give us some basic information on what exactly these 'Grimm' are. We've only been on Remnant for the past three days."  
The professor reaches into a drawer in his desk and pulls out four one-inch-thick packets. "Of course! You must be the new team Ozpin told me about, here is all I've covered so far in the year, as well as what I will be covering, and basic information such as names, habits, and area of residence. These are yours, feel free to make any notes on them, just don't share them with other students."  
"Yes sir. Thank you sir." Amelia says as she takes the packets and hands them to her team.  
"You are quite welcome! If I may ask, how old are you four, you seem older than most students."  
"My name is Amelia, I'm twenty-four, Cassie is twenty-two, Jackson is also twenty-two, and Kimberly is Twenty. Though I've been told before that we all look like we should be in our late twenties or early thirties."  
Port nods, taking a sip of coffee from a white mug on his desk.  
"Indeed you do. So, sit down, tell me a bit about yourselves."  
Everyone does so, and Amelia starts off with the general information about the team.  
"Well, we've all known each other since we were little. We all learned to fly at a relatively young age, the oldest being Kimberly at age twelve. Jackson and Kimberly's parents couldn't take care of them, so we sort of adopted them. My mother was a mercenary, and she disappeared in combat two years ago, at the time we all presumed she was dead and our father even went far enough that he killed himself a month later. Only recently have I found out that she ended up in Remnant. The four of us operate two two-seater planes, and all of us have a minimum of two hundred missions flown per person."  
Professor Port raises his eyebrows when Amelia finishes. "Very impressive. Your mother, is she the pilot of that slick-looking aircraft that was seen flying around a few months ago?"  
Amelia nods. "Did you see the two aircraft that flew over the Vytal festival?"

Port nods in response.

"Those were ours, my apologies for flying supersonic over the stadium, we really did not know what to think, and we were concerned if any of the craft flying around were hostile."  
Port grins, his mustache lifting to show a mouth of white teeth. "Don't be sorry! That was perfect timing! I has just finished welcoming everyone to the festival when you flew over, and the sonic boom helped make for the best festival introduction I've ever done!" He taps on a holographic screen above his desk for a minute before turning it to face them. In it are him and a green-haired man.  
"Ladies and gentlemen! I am Peter Port, this is Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. And welcome to the yearly Vytal festival!"  
The crowd bursts into cheering for a half second before the jets fly over, the sonic boom rattles the camera, and Port stops the video.  
Everyone has a grin on their face, and Jackson gives Cassie a fist-bump.  
"As I said, I should be thanking you for such an amazing introduction for the festival. Anyway, class starts in half an hour, you should get to reading those packets if you want to learn from the lesson today."  
Amelia nods and stands up, snapping Port a quick salute after she pushes her chair in. She bounds up the stairs to the top row where Summer is sitting, her gray cloak flowing out behind her as she takes the steps three at a time.  
Jackson pushes in his chair and nods to Port. "By the way sir, we will be doing a combat demonstration in our aircraft over the emerald forest today for Professor Goodwitch, if you are available you are welcome to watch."  
Port nods and goes back to reading his document as they all walk up to sit with Amelia and Summer.  
Amelia has the packet open and is reading up on a Grimm that looks like a large bird.  
"This one could be trouble for us, it's maneuverable, has razor-sharp talons, and it says here that it can use its feathers as projectiles."  
Summer doesn't even look over from her book she's reading. "Yeah, except for the fact that it can't move very fast, look at its maximum recorded speed."  
Amelia thumbs the lines as she looks for the information.  
"Oh, only fifty knots? Lame."  
Summer gives an 'mmhm' in acknowledgment, her eyes never leaving her book.

They read the packet for the entire class, not absorbing a word Port says as they try to understand the most dangerous types of Grimm.  
The only thing Jackson catches in the entire class is Port getting a phone call.  
"Very well." He says with a smile before he hangs up. "Alright class! Your next class has been delayed, headmaster Ozpin wants everyone to report to the roof to watch our newest team give a combat demonstration over the emerald forest!"  
The bell rings and Amelia turns to Summer. "Next stop, the front landing pad."  
They race through the busy halls, and when they get to the landing pad they find the airship waiting for them.  
"See you in a bit!" Amelia yells to Summer from the open cargo door as her team climbs in.  
Summer nods and Amelia gives the pilot the all-clear as Kimberly climbs in, letting her legs hang out the open door.  
The flight is short, and when the craft touches down everyone jumps out and sprints to the hangar, grabbing their helmets and leaving any unnecessary items behind before running to their aircraft.  
As Amelia throws her cloak and bag on her bed she hears her mom's Corsair start up, the loud engine drowning out anything else as she grabs her helmet and sprints to the F-105, tucking her hair in her flight suit as she runs.  
She starts to climb the ladder to the back seat, but notices Jackson sitting in it, so she jumps in the pilot's seat and buckles in with one hand while doing the startup procedure with the other.  
Once the engine starts up she puts her helmet on and tunes her comms stack.  
"Pontiac one checking in."  
{Pontiac two checking in.}  
{Viking checking in.}  
Amelia taxis the plane to the runway, quickly followed by the other two aircraft as she kicks the engine into full afterburner and rockets down the runway.  
Immediately after taking off Viking one heads in a different direction from Pontiac flight.  
They fly over Beacon twice before Amelia begins the demonstration.  
Janet streaks in for a head-on pass, flying in between the two F-105's with guns blazing, in reaction the two planes split apart, one breaking right, the other breaking left.

A low-altitude fur-ball ensues, the two F-105's trying to get a guns solution on the Corsair as the nimble A-7 flies rings around them, using its lighter airframe to turn inside them, but Pontiac flight can't use their superior speed to escape, as they have to remain in sight of the school, and the pilots are constantly reminded by their EWO's in the back seat whenever they stray too far.  
The real trouble happens when Amelia climbs high and dives on the Corsair, she puts the radar gunsight on the plane and pulls the trigger.  
 ***BRRRRRRRT!***  
Red splotches appear on the top of the wings of the Corsair and she pulls up just in the nick of time, racing along the treetops at Mach 1.2 before making a loop over the school, flying back over the forest at a slower speed in celebration.  
Out of the corner of her eye Amelia watches something white and black rocket by, and her plane lurches to the right and shudders with the sudden screech of metal breaking.  
{Amy! You're missing part of your right wing and your elevator!} Cassie calls through the radio as Amelia corrects the right list.  
"I've got this! Everyone chill the fuck out." Amelia calmly talks into the radio, the shaking in her controls becoming more and more severe as she climbs.  
{Your rudder is hanging on by a couple wires, bail out before it rips off.} Her mom flies alongside her for a moment, surveying the damage.  
Amelia looks at the mirror above her head, and sees the rudder shaking like a leaf, in correspondence with the shaking in her controls.  
"Roger that. Jackson punch out, I'll be right behind you."  
Jackson doesn't even respond, instead Amelia is acknowledged by a roar behind her, and a sudden jerk upwards as the plane loses weight.  
Amelia aims the sluggish plane at a cliff in the distance and reaches down by her butt, tucking her chin to her chest and leaning back against her seat before yanking upwards on the yellow and black handle.

The result is immediate, the charges on the bottom of her ejection seat ignite, sending her and the seat rocketing through the canopy.  
Hitting the wind at 400 knots is like hitting a brick wall, and Amelia has her breath knocked out of her as her parachute deploys and the seat falls away.  
After gasping for breath she looks up to check her parachute.  
No problems, fully deployed.  
"Awesome." She mumbles to herself, the wind drowning out the sound.  
Looking around she sees Jackson floating down to earth, about a mile away.  
She hears a thundering in the distance, and glances over to find a fireball at the base of the cliff she had aimed at.  
"Well, there goes another plane..." she sighs.  
She looks around to find the other F-105 and the A-7 circling them, she gives Cassie a thumbs up as she flies past. The F-105 rocks its wings and pops a pair of flares in acknowledgment before returning to its circling pattern.  
Suddenly the A-7 reverses its turn and extends before turning around, its nose aimed at the ground below Amelia.  
 ***BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!***  
It breaks off from the attack run and the F-105 has a go, strafing the same spot before breaking off.  
Amelia thinks they might be trying to tell her where to land until a human-sized black and white object flies out of the woods from the same spot, narrowly missing Cassie's plane.  
"Oh shit..." Amelia mumbles as she tries to steer the parachute away from that area, aiming instead for some tall pines nearby.  
She looks around to find the two planes circling her again, at a higher altitude, and suddenly she realizes why this situation seems so familiar.  
"Are you kidding me? I saw this in my nightmare last night?"  
She looks back down to find the treetops racing up towards her.  
"Oh shit I'm too fast!" Amelia yells as she tries to slow her descent, but it's too late, her parachute hangs up on a treetop and she swings into the branches, which knock her helmet off.  
Then there's an impact on her temple, and everything goes black.

* * *

 **A/N: Before anybody says anything, yes I'm well aware that the A-7 Corsair has long since been retired by everyone but the Hellenic air force, who retired it in 2014.**

 **I'm also well aware that the A-7 would beat the F-105 in a dogfight hands down.**

 **My aircraft selection process is simple, I put slips of paper into a hat, and if it's not a one-sided fight (I.E an F-22 vs an A-1) I put it in.**

 **On that note I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review on what I could do better, as I'm still improving, and I'll hopefully have the next chapter finished within the next couple of days!**


	3. Chapter 3

**POV switch- Summer Rose, 3rd person  
**  
Summer watches in amazement from the roof as the three planes twist and turn, both sides trying their hardest to take each other out of the fight.

"It's almost like a dance, like three swordsman going at it." She mumbles, only being heard by those closest to her due to the loud roar echoing off the trees.

"Indeed, a dance of death. Suspenseful to watch, terrifying to participate in." Raven says from next to her, watching the fight intensely.

"There goes the tactician, getting ready for an unexpected attack." Qrow points at the plane climbing high above the other two, it rolls over and seems to hang there for a second before diving in, letting out a loud roar of gunfire before pulling up, skimming just above the treetops, a white cone develops behind the wings.

"Cover your ears." Qrow warns as he sticks his fingers in his ears.

Summer follows suit, just in time as the sleek plane silently flies by, she smiles as the person in front of her unplugs his ears in confusion.

 ***BOOM!***

The sonic boom makes everyone jump, including the teachers. Then everyone cheers as loud as they can as the plane flies low over the forest to join up with its companions.

Suddenly, a Beowolf flies out of the forest. Summer watches in horror as it hits the plane on the right wing, breaking off a piece of it and completely shearing off the right tail fin.

All the cheering abruptly stops.

The plane banks to the right from the impact, but sluggishly levels the wings and climbs.

"That's not part of the demonstration." Summer mumbles in horror.

Her fears are confirmed when a black speck rockets from the aircraft and falls for a millisecond before a large white parachute opens above it.

"That's not part of the demonstration!" She yells, turning to run towards the roof access

"Tai, with me!" She starts running to the stairway as she finishes her sentence, pushing people out of the way.

* * *

 **POV switch- Jackson, 3rd person**

"I fucking hate this part..." Jackson grumbles as he nears the treetops, the large pines below reaching up towards him like giant punji stakes.  
He braces his parachute and slows his descent just before it gets caught in a treetop. He swings out as the tree halts his forward momentum and swings back, slamming into the tree trunk. The impact knocks the wind out of him, and judging from the sharp ache in his chest probably cracked a rib or two.

"fuck..." He groans, gritting his teeth together while sucking air.

He opens his eyes and looks down.

"Of course I get caught twenty feet up in a tamarack tree, why wouldn't I?"

Below him is a miserable sight, no tree limbs below, the nearest one being about eight feet above his head. He looks around and sighs.

"Well, good day to hang out I guess." He chuckles to himself, looking up at the A-7 Corsair circling him.

He motions to the ground, and then makes several large motions with his arms to relay a general message.  
 _Seriously?! Why me!?_

The Corsair pops a pair of flares in response and flies off, leaving him to swing in the breeze like laundry on a clothesline.  
He hangs there for about five minutes before he hears a snarl below, and he pulls his sidearm out of its holster on his hip, a trusty Colt Peacemaker, given to him by Amelia for his 21st birthday.  
A Beowolf walks out of the trees below him and circles the tree multiple times before Jackson understands why he hasn't been eaten yet.  
"What's wrong mutt? Can't climb trees? That's cute." Jackson teases, waving his feet below him.

He continues to tease the lone Beowolf for five minutes before he gets bored and shoots it, causing the beast to dissolve into a black dust that scatters with the wind.  
He relaxes and puts his pistol back into its holster.  
Bored to death, Jackson reaches into a pouch on his vest and pulls out his phone, shortly accompanied by a pair of earbuds.  
He plugs the earbuds in and puts them in his ears, tapping on his phone for a minute before putting it back in the pouch.  
 _Over there!  
Over there!  
Send the word! Send the word!  
Over there!  
That the yanks are coming!  
The yanks are coming!  
The drum-drum-drumming everywhere!  
So beware!  
Stay aware!  
_His humming along is interrupted by a roaring above him, he pauses the song and glances up, spotting the A-7 again he waves nonchalantly and pulls a smoke grenade out of a pouch on the front of his vest. Pulling the pin he lets the now-activated grenade drop to the forest floor, where it almost immediately starts billowing thick purple smoke.  
Then he hears a quieter whine, and after a minute a small two-engined drop-ship comes to a hover above him, dropping a rope ladder out the side door.  
He grabs hold of the ladder and cuts himself away from his parachute before climbing up the ladder.

Climbing into the cabin he sits down on a seat and hauls the rope ladder in.  
After he's done he looks around inside to find Taiyang and Summer staring at him.

"Sup?" He asks with a little wave.

"That's it? You just got knocked out of the sky and you greet us with 'sup?', aren't you freaking out?" Tai asks him, staring into his eyes.

"Nope! This is just another day at the office for me." Jackson smiles and leans up into the cockpit. "Hey, you got any beer up here?"  
The pilot grins and reaches behind his seat, producing a bottle.  
"Cheers mate!" Jackson chirps as he sits down again, using a D-ring on his harness to open the bottle before taking a swig.

"You have got to be the most chill person I know." Tai laughs.

"What can I say? After years of getting shot at day after day, this shit is _nothing!_ " Jackson laughs as the side door opens again.

Shortly thereafter the ship comes to a hover and Jackson kicks the rope ladder out, grabbing onto a handle as he looks out the door.  
Amelia is unconscious, swinging lightly in the breeze, blood running down the left side of her head and face. Beowolves are in the limbs of the trees about ten feet below her.

"Shit!" Jackson snarls as he grabs the beer bottle by the neck and throws it at one, which it hits in the head and knocks it off balance, causing the beast the fall twenty or so feet before dissolving into dust.

He yanks his Colt out of the holster and takes aim at one of the Beowolves closest to Amelia, gently squeezing the trigger like Janet had taught him.  
The .44 Magnum booms, causing Summer to scream in surprise as the slug slams into the beast's' chest and topples it off the limb.  
Jackson repeats the action four more times before jamming the pistol back in the holster and starting down the ladder.

"Watch my back!" He yells at Tai and Summer as he climbs down.

Once at the same level as Amelia he loops an arm through the rungs and swings the ladder out, wrapping an arm around her waist.  
He's about to yell for the pilot to go, but realizes the parachute would rip her out of his grasp.

"Summer!" He yells, and the redhead sticks her head out.

He grabs one of the strands of cord in his teeth and she gets the message, nimbly climbing down the ladder she pulls out a sword and severs the risers, allowing Jackson to hold up Amelia's full weight.

"Jesus Christ Amy! You need to go on a diet!" He groans as Summer clambers back up the ladder and with the help of Tai, starts pulling it in.

"Fuck...you..." Amelia weakly groans in his ear as they fly away, still hanging on the ladder below the craft.

"Maybe some other time sweetheart, you're looking a bit rough for my tastes right now." Jackson chuckles back as they reach the open door, and Tai's waiting arms.

Jackson hands Amelia up to him, and he quickly lays her on the floor of the craft as Jackson climbs in, hauling the rest of the ladder in before getting down on his knees by her side.  
"How's she looking?" He asks, pulling a bandage out of the IFAK on her vest and using it to wipe the blood off her face.

"I'm not a doctor by any stretch of the imagination, but she's got at least a couple broken ribs, a concussion, and I think some of the blood on her face is from her eye."  
Jackson leans forward and puts his fingers on Amelia's eyelid, getting ready to slightly pull it open. He stops and takes his hands off her after she forcefully grabs him by the groin.

"Leave...doctors..." Amelia groans as her grip loosens and her hand falls away after she passes out.

"Leave it for the doctors, got it." Jackson squeaks, his voice a couple octaves higher as he moves her arm so it rests at her side.

"Wow, I've never seen anybody be THAT forceful with someone." Tai laughs, loosening Amelia's vest and harness.

"Whoa dude, you _don't_ want to do that." Jackson warns, grabbing his wrists.

"Why not? The doctors will have to do it anyways."

"I'll tell you the story later, just trust me, let the doctors do that." Jackson's voice is serious as he lets go of Tai's hands and pulls Amelia's pistol out of its holster, following suit with the knife strapped to her calf and taking a stiletto knife out of her thigh pocket.

Jackson looks up towards the cockpit. "What's our ETA?!"

The pilot holds his index finger over his shoulder. "One minute!"

Jackson turns back to Amelia and unbuckles a pouch in between two smoke grenade pouches, carefully reaching in and retrieving a round, dull-green object, which he quickly stuffs in a similar pouch on his vest.

"What was that?" Tai asks, pointing at the pouch.

"Fragmentation grenade! I'll tell you the story later!" Jackson yells back as he pats Amelia down for any more weapons, he rolls his eyes before pulling a very small knife and scabbard out of her bra.

"Seriously?" Summer acts disgusted at him touching her in such personal places.

"I'm saving someone's life okay? We've been through some shit, and if someone wakes her up in the wrong way I don't want them getting a knife in the throat." He defends as he puts the knife in his pocket.

Summer slowly nods in understanding as the ship comes to a hover and descends, the side door opening to reveal multiple medical teams ready to care for the two pilots.  
When they land Jackson jumps out and waves the medical teams forward, they reach for him but stop when he places a hand on his sidearm.

"Her first! I can walk myself in!" He points to Amelia, and they quickly load her onto a gurney before wheeling her in.

Jackson loosely salutes Summer and Tai before walking in, being stubbornly herded by several doctors.  
He gets his ribs X-rayed and finds that he did indeed fracture two ribs and his collarbone, which the doctors quickly put him in a brace and a wheelchair while everything heals. After being discharged a couple days later he spends the rest of the week at Amelia's bedside, holding her hand as she lays in a medically-induced coma.

* * *

 **POV switch- Amelia, 3rd person.**

Amelia groans as she wakes up, the pain in her ribs, back, and shoulders being the first that registers.  
Then the pain in her left eye registers, a feeling like a red hot piece of rebar being shoved against bare skin as her nerves backfire, sending her brain a message.  
 _No connection! Something's wrong! It's GONE!_

Through the pain she feels a light squeeze on her right hand, and she squeezes as hard as she can to relay the pain she's in as she stifles back a scream.  
A familiar voice gives a surprised yelp as his hand is seemingly crushed by her iron grip, the joints in his hand grinding together uncomfortably as she gives out a very restrained whimper of pain.

Amelia writhes gently in her bed as she continues squeezing the hand, and a quiet, hurried clicking can be heard.

Amelia opens her right eye to find Jackson hurriedly mashing on a button simply labeled 'HELP'. A nurse runs in and Jackson holds up their hands, his fingers purple as Amelia's vice-like grip cuts off the blood circulation.

"She's awake, could you please administer the painkiller before she breaks any bones?" He says very nonchalantly, a pained smile on his face.

"Of course." The nurse walks over to an IV which is attached to Amelia's left arm, and she presses a small button on a remote attached to a timer. A cool, soothing relief rolls up Amelia's arm from where the IV needle is inserted, and soon the feeling washes over her whole body, washing away all the pain like a high tide. She loosens her grips on Jackson's hand as the feeling hits her head, somewhat quelling, but not completely eliminating, the pain in her left eye socket.

Amelia gives an audible sigh of relief and looks at Jackson in contempt.

"And what are you gawking at Major?" She asks, knocking him out of daydream land and back into reality.

"Just one of God's masterpieces Captain." He replies, changing the hand that she'd been holding and flexing the crushed one in an effort to regain circulation.

"When will you quit hitting on me you smooth bastard." Amelia chuckles, giving the cold hand a gentle squeeze.

"Whenever you quit teasing and we get serious." He chuckles back, giving her a peck on the cheek.  
At the kiss her heart rate spikes and Jackson grins.

"Oh? Did we like that?"

She scowls at him and tries to jab him in the ribs, but her own ribs remind her of how foolish that attempt is by protesting prominently.  
She winces and groans, moving her arm back to her side.

"Don't play with my heart like that you rocket jockey." She slings the best insult she can think of at the moment, but he takes it in stride, planting another kiss on the other cheek before quickly withdrawing out of her reach.

"You asshole, I'm gonna kick your ass for thi-" she's silenced by him as he plants a kiss on her lips, which she quickly leans into, and they hold the gentle, passionate kiss for a minute before a cough comes from the door.

"Excuse me, am I interrupting anything?" Ozpin asks as he leans in.

Jackson jerks up into attention and winces, bringing his left arm up to his ribs. "No sir."

Ozpin walks the rest of the way in, followed shortly by Kimberly and Cassie, who both gently hug Amelia and sit down.

"At ease, you do not need to do that. I come bearing good news. The weapons your mother had built are ready, but we need you two..." he looks pointedly at Kimberly and Cassie before continuing. "To escort the transport planes to the Vale airport, where they will unload their cargo."  
Jackson nods and sits down waiting for Ozpin to continue.

"When everyone here is fully healthy, we will begin aura training, to ensure internal injuries do not happen as easily."  
Amelia nods in acknowledgment, and so does the rest of her team.

"Very well, you two have your orders, hop to it."

Kimberly and Cassie jump up, sprinting out while yelling goodbyes over their shoulders.  
Ozpin waits until they're gone and closes the door, addressing the two in front of him.  
"I trust that your relationship will not get in the way of functions as a team?"

Jackson shakes his head. "No sir it will not, we've been discreetly going steady for a while now, at least a year. It hasn't affected our performance one bit."

He nods in satisfaction. "Good. Because you are the Beacons guardian angels, I don't need you getting distracted from your job."

Jackson nods and pulls a small knife out of his pocket.  
"Here's this back." He hands it to Amelia, who takes it and puts the sheath and knife in her bra before looking at Jackson pointedly.  
"Come on, all of it."  
Jackson hands her the stiletto knife he'd confiscated earlier.

She takes it and puts it in the other side before sitting up.

"Headmaster, unless you want to see a guardian angel undress and change into street clothes, I suggest you leave." Ozpin takes the hint and stands up, quickly leaving.

Amelia stands up, and quickly drops the hospital gown off her before grabbing a pair of fatigues and slipping them on.  
Jackson doesn't even bother to avert his eyes, instead he blatantly watches Amelia as she dresses, leaving the bandages wrapped around her torso and head before pulling out the IV's and monitors.

She slips on her shirt and Jackson passes the familiar m1911 to her, which she quickly tucks into her waistband before throwing on her cloak with a grunt of discomfort.

A nurse comes running into the room and gawks at Amelia, who is now fully dressed and ready to leave.  
"Ma'am, you can't leave yet there's still-eep!" The nurse shuts up when Amelia pulls the pistol out and holds it at her side.

"I am part of a private military company, I demand that I be released immediately." Amelia demands in a strong voice, her hand steady as a rock despite her white-knuckled grip on her pistol.

"O-of course! I'll go get the doctor." The nurse stammers before running out.

"You know he's probably going to try to sedate you right?" Jackson asks, his hand on his Colt.

"Yes, and that's why I have you." Amelia grins and sits down in a chair facing the door, her legs crossed.

A gray-haired doctor walks in and freezes when he sees Amelia."well I see you're feeling better, personally I have no problem signing off on your discharge papers. But first please allow me to tell you what we did to your left eye." He calmly states as he walks forward and sits down next to her.  
"The original eye was far too mangled to save, and so we added a multi-role optical and heads-up-display integrated mechanical one with a coded neural interface so you can wirelessly link devices with your eye, your mother sent this idea to us, and while at first I was skeptical, everything seems to have gone well. Some of the optics were limiting in what eye color we could use for it, so we went with a silver at your mother's insistence."

Amelia reaches up to touch her face, but only comes in contact with gauze.  
"If you would like, we can remove the bandages to see how things turned out." The doctor offers as he lays release documents on the table.

"Please, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious." Amelia leans forward slowly and the doctor unties the bandage, slowly unwrapping it from her head.  
The doctor carelessly throws the bandages on the bed and removes a final gauze patch covering her eye.

It remains closed for a second as Amelia breathes, preparing herself, and then it opens, and Amelia looks around.  
The doctor pulls out a tablet and taps on it a few times before Amelia gasps.  
"Wow...that is...kinda overwhelming at first, but I'll get used to it." She says as what looks like a completely normal, silver eye scans the room.

"So I've heard. Well, here is some painkillers should you need them, and here are your release documents, please keep them for the next month or so. After that you can burn them for all I care." He hands her a small prescription bottle and signs the release forms before handing those to her as well.

"Thank you doctor, for everything, here's to hoping we don't need to see each other again any time soon."  
The doctor chuckles and stands up, shaking Amelia's hand before leaving.

"Well? Come along Major, we have work to do." Amelia pokes Jackson in the ribs as she walks by, and he quickly follows her out.

* * *

 **POV switch- Jackson, 3rd person**

They walk out into the back garden and watch as a F-105 and an A-7 streak high overhead, heading north.  
Amelia gives a low whistle, watching the aircraft disappear into the clouds.

"We've been practicing our response times, and we got them down to QRF standards."

Amelia looks over at him and smiles, but then remembers why she was in the infirmary in the first place.  
"Hey... I'm sorry about the plane.." she downcasts her eyes and rubs a spot on her right forearm with her left thumb.

"Don't worry about it. Shit happens, your mom spilled the beans anyways, we're getting new planes. She didn't say what they were though, she avoided answering that like the plague."  
Amelia grins again, listening to the distant roar of the jet engines fade away.  
"They also finished building the ammunition bunkers and the new hangars. A couple of them are fucking _huge_ , I'm talking like, capable of easily fitting both the thud and the Corsair, and having plenty of room left over for more." Jackson grins at the thought.

"Your mom really has something special planned for us." He adds, turning and walking towards the school dorms. "Come on, Summer's been dying to see you."

Amelia nods and follows, still primarily relying on her right eye while she gets used to the assault of information in her left.

They walk through the halls, successfully navigating the maze thanks to Jackson exploring while in the wheelchair and easily reach STRQ's dorm, Jackson raps on the door several times before letting himself in.  
"Hey guys. Summer, her ribs are still healing, so don't squeeze too hard." He warns as Amelia follows him in, her left eye closed.

Summer sees her and rushes over, Amelia braces herself to be tackled, but the cloaked girl gives her a sincere and gentle hug.  
"Glad to see you're out and about. Ozpin stopped by and told us you were awake, but told us to stay."

"Yeah, he was with us when she got up, she told him to leave."

Summer stares at Amelia in surprise. "That's it? You essentially ordered the headmaster to leave?"

Amelia smiles and shrugs. "I told him if he didn't want to see one of his students naked then he best leave, and he left."

Qrow laughs from his spot on the windowsill, looking over towards them with a grin on his face. "So, how's your eye? The doctors told us that they had some procedures done and that it would take some getting used to."

Amelia sighs and opens her eye, producing an audible gasp from Summer and her entire team.  
"Wow...it's beautiful, it looks almost exactly like mine." Summer marvels before she steers Amelia over to a mirror.  
"It _is_ exactly like mine. That's..." she trails off, trying to find the right words.

"Intriguing?" Tai offers from his bed, where he's absentmindedly polishing a large golden gauntlet.

"Creepy?" Qrow offers, still sitting in the windowsill.

"AWESOME!" Summer squeals in joy, once again hugging Amelia.

Amelia gasps and grabs Summer by the shoulder. "Too hard!" She whimpers, causing the girl to immediately disengage from the hug.

"I'm sorry!" Summer yells, her gaze downcast.

Amelia walks forward and hugs her. "I'm okay with you hugging me, just...gently." She mumbles, and Summer gently hugs her back.  
Raven looks over at them and rolls her eyes before going back to refilling the small canisters in the scabbard for her katana.

"So what is that stuff? I see everyone using it, but I haven't caught what it's called." Jackson asks, earning a perplexed stare from everyone except Amelia.

"It's called dust, it carries elemental capabilities which we use to further enhance our weapons. There's fire, explosive, ice, wind, earth, electricity, and a couple others that would only confuse you right now." Raven explains, showing off a glass vial full of what looks like a red sand.

"Huh...is it easy to use...?" Jackson asks, looking at the vial curiously.

Raven shrugs and goes back to filling up the chambers in the scabbard. "If you've got an aura."

Jackson's shoulders slump. "Damn it."

All of team STRQ stares at him in bewilderment.  
"Wait... you don't have an aura..?" Qrow asks, his jaw open.

"Maybe...? No...? I don't know!" Jackson looks to Amelia for help, but she's just as clueless.

"To answer your question mister Branwen, all of them do have an aura, they just haven't unlocked it, the same situation with their semblances. I intend to help them once they are both fit for combat again."

Jackson wheels around to find Ozpin standing in the open doorway, leaning against the door jamb.  
"With all due respect headmaster, we are ready for combat."

Ozpin raises an eyebrow. "Are you now? Alright, put me in a situation where I couldn't escape without serious injury."

Amelia and Jackson both look at each other before nodding.  
They both whip out their pistols, aiming the loaded firearms at Ozpin with a rock-steady grip.

Ozpin's eyes widen and he coughs into his hand before speaking.  
"Very well, I can't say I didn't expect that. Your training starts in my office, three hours."  
Amelia and Jackson both holster their pistols and grin wildly as he walks off.

"You know he could have easily whooped your guys' asses right?" Tai asks, putting the gauntlet at his side.

"Probably not, you forget how much experience we've had fighting people." Jackson chuckles, giving Amelia a quick squeeze on the shoulders.

"Yeah, but he's one of, if not _the_ best huntsman in all of Remnant, he easily could have knocked those pistols out of your hands and-!" He yelps when Amelia wheels around and throws her deployed stiletto knife side-hand, embedding it clear to the hilt in the wall an inch from his face.

"I think my point is proven." Amelia glares at him before walking over and plucking the knife out of the wall.

"Definitely." Tai squeaks as Amelia pulls the spring-loaded blade back into the handle and walks towards the open door.

"I'm going to head home for a bit, I need a shower. I'll see you at training." Amelia mumbles to Jackson as she walks past, not even slowing as she rounds the corner into the hall.

"I'll go with her, to make sure she doesn't get lost." Summer says as she grabs her swords and follows Amelia out, closing the door behind her.

Jackson stares at Tai with a surprised face. "Man, you must have _really_ pissed her off if she threw her stiletto like that, the last time she did that we were running from some mechanized infantry in Ukraine..." he trails off, realizing he's already said too much.

"So..you gonna tell me that story now?" Tai asks, putting the two gauntlets on his pillow.  
Jackson sighs and grabs the wooden chair from the study desk by the door.  
He pulls it out and sits in it so his arms are resting on the back of the chair. "Why not...we all seem to be getting along well, thanks for all your support guys, it really means a lot to us after living in some third-world shitholes for the past few years."

He takes a breath and closes his eyes for a minute before beginning.

"It was a year ago, we got shot down while fighting in a civil war in the Middle East. Nothing but desert, mountains, and small villages scattered every which way. We had linked back up and we were heading for an old military outpost in the mountains and we got surrounded. At this time Cassie and Kimberly were too busy worrying about the missile site that shot us down, so we had to try and break out on our own. We made it to the outpost but there wasn't anything we could use, and we found ourselves surrounded again. They closed in on us and we ran out of ammo. They rushed in and captured us, I got the shit kicked out of me, and they pulled us both down the mountain, me by a broken arm, Amelia by her hair, for five miles down that damn mountain."

He shudders and rubs a spot on his left bicep before continuing, his eyes distant.

"They dragged us into a nearby village, they tortured us for three hours before a United Nations quick-reaction-force responded to our distress beacons on our vests. When they got close they..."  
He clenches his fists, his serious blue eyes filled with rage before he takes a deep breath.  
"When they got close our captors tried to rape her, she was unconscious when they started loosening up her harness and vest, but the hurried jarring woke her up, and when she saw them trying to take off her pants she went ape-shit..."

he trails off again, but his cloudy eyes sharpen and he gives a little grin.  
"In the scuffle I got clubbed over the head with a rifle, but when I woke up one of the medics said they found her partially clothed, holding that little knife you saw me pull out of her bra, covered in blood with eight Taliban dead in the room."

He stops and waits for that to sink in, finally Qrow speaks up.  
"So you're telling me, that elegant woman that we just saw walk out with Summer, killed eight people on her own?"

Jackson nods and holds up a hand motioning for Qrow to wait.

"Not only did she kill eight full-grown men, but she killed them all with a four-inch blade, and all of them were armed to the teeth. Look I know it sounds far-fetched, but there's a reason why I stopped you Tai, when it comes to hand-to-hand fighting, that woman is a demon. I stopped sparring with her years ago, she'd kick my ass every time without hardly trying. She's a six foot tall bundle of muscle and skill, and nobody I know of has yet to come close to beating her one-on-one."

Tai grins and cracks his knuckles. "That only makes me want to try to beat her."

Jackson stares at him in shock for a second before chuckling and shaking his head. "Your funeral dude, make sure you write your will before you do."

"Oh come on, she can't be that good, I've been fighting ever since I was little!" Tai laughs, laying down on his bed.

"She knows five different hand-to-hand styles, took six months off work to go practice with Gurkha special forces, she can throw and hit a target with just about any knife I've ever handed her, and she has a stupidly high pain tolerance. Combine that with the fact that she works out for three hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and she's one of the most dangerous people I know." Jackson glares at him, and Tai raises his hand.

"First off, what are Taliban?"

Jackson blinks several times before taking another deep breath.  
"They are a religious extremist group who believed that if you aren't part of their religion then essentially you deserve to die."

Tai nods in understanding and raises his hand again.  
"Secondly, what are Gurkhas?"

Jackson grins and leans forward into the back of the chair.  
"The Gurkhas are men and women from the Himalayan mountains, the tallest mountains in our world. They are some of the fiercest fighters ever to be fielded by a modern military, and due to the fact that they grow up at a high altitude where there's less oxygen, their stamina at lower altitudes is ridiculous."

 **[A/N: Those are very vague descriptions, and I apologize if I offended anybody.]**

Tai nods in understanding and leans back against the wall as Qrow steps away from the window and closes it.

"So what about you? You any good in hand-to-hand?" He asks, sitting down onto his bed.

"Me? Well...I've always specialized in bladed weapons and firearms, despite the fact that it usually looks like I'm not carrying many, I'm actually reasonably prepared."

He pulls up his pant-leg to show a boot-knife before pushing the fabric back down and stands up, turning around and lifting the back of his shirt, revealing a small curved handle tucked into the small of his back.

"Now that's an interesting blade design, let's see it." Tai marvels from his spot on his bed.

Jackson tucks his index finger into the ring at the end of the handle and pulls the knife out of its scabbard, revealing a karambit fighting knife.

"There's no way that can do much damage." Tai furrows his brow as Jackson shows the knife off.

"And that's where you'd be wrong, a knife like this would fit your fighting style, the style isn't that much different from fist-fighting."  
To show what he means Jackson gives a few jabs and swipes, showing on an imaginary target.

"Wow, you're actually right...think you could make me one?" Tai asks, marveling at the discrete nature of the blade.

"I'll think about it. I've also got this, which is my preferred blade." He puts the karambit back and reaches into his jacket, pulling out a surprisingly large blade.  
"This is a Kukri, it used to be a harvest knife, then somewhere along the line someone figured out 'hey, this thing cuts meat pretty damn well!' And the Gurkhas started using it."  
He twirls the leaf-shaped blade a couple times before putting it back in the scabbard.

"That's all I've got aside from my revolver, I was going to-" he's interrupted when his phone chimes.

He pulls it out and scrutinizes the message.  
"Alright, sorry guys, I've gotta bounce. Swing by the hangars tomorrow after classes and I'll be happy to share a couple less depressing stories over a beer or two." He pushes the chair back in and stops at the door.

"Oh, and Tai?"

"Hmm?"

"Your tail hook is down."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jackson opens the door and steps into the hall.  
"your fly is down."

He closes the door as Tai scrambles to pull up his zipper, much at the rest of the team's amusement.

* * *

 **POV-switch, Amelia, 3 hours later, 3rd person  
**  
Amelia and Jackson walk into headmaster Ozpin's office, Amelia's changed into a new pair of black fatigues and a tan shirt, with her black cloak draped over her shoulders.

"Welcome, please, take a seat and we'll begin immediately." Ozpin hums happily from his desk, having just re-filled his mug.

The two sit down and scan their surroundings while he speaks, to Ozpin's surprise Amelia has a black eye-patch over her left eye.  
"What is the matter miss Ellis? Is your eye proving to be difficult?"

Amelia shakes her head and smiles.  
"No sir, it's just that I can read the information on the heads-up display easier against the black background, and to access options to change settings I have to blink that eye while looking directly ahead, and I'm fairly certain some students thought I was winking at them."

Ozpin smirks before taking a sip of coffee.  
"Very well, let's not delay, both hands up on the desk, right over left."

The two quickly follow instructions, and Ozpin lays his hands on theirs before muttering several words.  
As soon as he finishes speaking both of the pilots slump back, unconscious in their seats.

* * *

"Ugh my head." Jackson groans as he sits up, blinking his eyes several times to adjust to the new lighting scheme.

Amelia wakes up about a minute after him.

"The hell? There's a new bar on the display." She grumbles, sitting up as she surveys her status on the display in her left eye.

"And what does it say?" Jackson asks, as Ozpin sits there patiently, sipping coffee while looking at something on his tablet.

"It says aura, does that mean it worked?"

Ozpin nods and puts his tablet down.  
"If you will, try to think as if you're trying to breath, while not actually breathing, there should be a colored barrier around you, that is your aura, and the color depends on your fighting style and your dedication. Now, try to do as I instructed."

Amelia takes a deep breath and lets it out, then hitches it as she exhales, a battleship gray barrier seems to radiate out of her, extending a good three inches beyond her skin.

"Wow, that's cool! What does this say about my fighting style?"

Ozpin thinks for a minute, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair.  
"Balanced. Aggressive, yet very thoughtful and dedicated. I can see why you chose to be a pilot."

Amelia grins and Jackson's aura radiates out, a dark green that extends about an inch beyond his skin.

"And I sir?"

Ozpin looks at him and hums, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair for several minutes before leaning forward.  
"very withheld, yet powerful once let loose, and very dedicated."

Jackson thinks for a second before nodding.  
"Sounds about right."

Ozpin smiles and leans back in his chair.  
"There you are, I have unlocked your aura's for you. In combat class you will receive further training. Now I believe you have important and exciting business to attend to..." he looks towards the window, and Amelia gasps audibly at the view.

Flying towards the airfield is a large formation of at least a dozen aircraft that look distinctly like C-17 Globemasters, escorted by a desert camouflage F-105 and a gray A-7.  
"Permission to go sir?" Jackson asks, Amelia is practically vibrating in excitement.

"Of course, have fun."  
At the pause in his sentence Amelia and Jackson jump up and sprint to the elevator, quickly closing the doors and descending.

* * *

As they jump out of the airship onto the tarmac Amelia spots her mom and sister talking by one of the new very large hangars, while Kimberly is pushing the A-7 into it. Amelia sprints over to her mom and skids to a stop in front of her.

"What did you get us?" She asks with an excited expression.

"Oh, you know, just the best ground attack aircraft that money can buy. And a few multi-role fighters..."

She tapers off as Cassie runs out to direct traffic, two lighted cones in her hands as she directs the large aircraft to a parking area near the hangars.

"The best...? No way, you're kidding." Amelia goes wide-eyed as the rest of the C-17's land and park next to the first one.

Janet shakes her head and Amelia scowls at her. "I don't believe you, this is too good to be true."

The ramp on the first C-17 lowers and several men in snow camouflage start pulling a long covered pallet off it, easily pulling the pallet into one of the four large empty hangars.  
"You'll see once everything is unloaded. Ozpin is even paying for us to have our own ground and flight crew. So they should have everything assembled by tomorrow morning."

Behind the hangars are two large concrete humps sticking up out of the dirt.  
"What are those?"

Janet points over to their right, where a forklift is moving a crate into a tunnel in between two hangars.  
"Bunkers for the big boom." She chuckles.

Amelia grins and hears a commotion over her shoulder, she turns around to find two armed guards preventing Summer from walking any closer.

Amelia sighs and jogs over, pushing the two guards out of the way. "She's welcome here fellas. Don't give her any more trouble."

The two guards give her a salute, which she returns before motioning for Summer to follow her.

"Sorry, we're getting some serious ordinance now, so we've gotta step up security."

Summer shrugs as Amelia leads her into the main hangar, where the F-105 had been backed in, and is currently being looked over by several men in overalls.

"Thanks fellas, keep up the good work!" Amelia cheers as they walk by.

They walk up the metal stairs to the bunks and Amelia throws Summer a gray flight suit.  
"That should fit you, go jump in the bathroom and change, there's a couple hangers in there for your dress and corset already."

Summer nods and walks in, closing the door behind her.  
"If you need help let me know!" Amelia calls through the door as she puts on her flight suit, tucking her hair in it as she zips it up.

She quickly follows with her harness, vest, and parachute, and is reaching for her helmet when Summer walks out of the bathroom.  
"Looks like it fits you alright, The harness for the parachute is the most uncomfortable, but you'll get used to it." Amelia explains as she helps Summer into the harness, then gives her the vest to put on while she attaches the parachute to the harness.

Soon enough Summer is looking like a fighter pilot, and is only missing one thing.

"Here, helmet. We usually keep them off until we buckle in, so we can hear if anything doesn't sound right." She hands Summer her helmet and tucks her own under her arm.

"Right then, let's go."

They walk down the stairs and across the hangar floor where the ground crew is finishing up, moving their tools away from the aircraft.  
Amelia motions Summer up the boarding ladder, and follows up quickly after her.  
Summer climbs into the back seat and Amelia helps her get buckled in, explaining emergency procedures and the works before having Summer plug her helmet into the comms stack.

When Amelia's hand nears the control panel for the radio something feels...different, and she hesitates before grabbing the power dial and turning it.

Suddenly there's an electronic screech in her head, and she falls onto her backside, her entire body numb as she's covering her ears instinctively while the noise drowns out everything else, including the roar of engines outside. The sound continues for several minutes, causing her to curl up in a fetal position while clutching the sides of her head, her eyes clenched shut and her face contorted in pain.

She's so focused on the pain in her head that she doesn't notice Summer calling her name, or Jackson, who kneels by her and tries to shake her to get her attention. Or even her own mother, who picks her up and carries her over to the living room area and lays her down on a couch.

After twenty minutes the noise completely fades, and feeling slowly returns to her body.  
She tries to groan as she opens her eyes, but no sound comes out, no rumbling in her throat to indicate she's actually speaking, despite the fact that she can hear everything around her, including her mom and Ozpin quietly arguing next to her.

"Is it possible that this is from the neural implant for her eye?"

"Mrs. Ellis, I would like to think not, it's very possible that this may be her semblance."

"But someone discovering their semblance doesn't usually involve them being completely numbed to the outside world!"

"Yes, while this is true, sometimes it is a side effect from the process of the knowledge necessary to use the semblance bubbling to the surface."

Amelia sits up and rubs her temples, closing her eyes.  
 _Oh Jesus Christ would you both please just shut the fuck up? You're going to make this damned headache worse_.

Amelia thinks as she rubs circles in her temples.

Immediately after she thinks that there's an eerie silence, broken after several minutes by Ozpin.  
"Well, I do believe we know what her semblance is now."  
This peaks Amelia's interest, and she turns around to find everyone in the hangar staring at her.

 _Why is everyone staring at me?_

Janet flinches when Amelia thinks that, and Ozpin steps forward. "So you're functional now, how do you feel?"

Amelia opens her mouth and tries to tell him 'I feel like shit.', but the words won't form, not even a small squeak leaves her mouth.  
She thinks the same, and Ozpin nods almost as if recognizing her private thought.

"Well then, it would appear that you've found your semblance, at the cost of a few features, including your voice."

She raises an eyebrow at him and he grins, sitting down on the couch next to her. "Telepathy my dear, truly rare. However, your voice wasn't the only thing that was changed."

Amelia furrows her brow, and Jackson provides a signal mirror from his vest.  
Amelia holds it up to look in it, and she stares for a minute before removing her eyepatch.

 _I'm not dreaming this am I?_

Amelia blinks multiple times and Ozpin laughs. "No, you do now seem to have _two_ silver eyes."

Amelia stares in the mirror, the HUD in her left eye sitting around the edges of her vision.  
There's the sound of combat boots clomping behind her, and she turns around to find Summer sprinting over.  
Amelia thinks Summer is going to tackle her, but instead the redhead vaults over the back of the couch and lands next to her, quickly wrapping her up in a hug.

They hug in silence, but at the same Amelia hears a soothing voice in her mind, one that isn't hers.  
"' _I was so damn worried about you. I thought you'd just electrocuted yourself.'"_

Amelia hugs her back, giving a deep sigh out of her nose while in the embrace.  
 _I know, I'm sorry, there was just this sound...and I just went numb._

Summer jerks when Amelia finishes out her thought.  
"Wait...you heard that?"

Amelia pulls out of the hug.

 _Not exactly, but yeah._

Summer stares at her in awe, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

 _What? I just sort of heard a different voice in my head that wasn't mine._

Ozpin breaks the silence as the two girls stare at each other. "Allow me to inquire, she just heard your thoughts in her head?"

Summer nods.

"Hmmm, Miss Ellis, would you please pull out your phone?"

Amelia pulls her phone out and holds it in her hand.

"Now try to direct some sort of thought towards that phone."

Amelia does, and as she does the phone repeats what she thought, in her voice.

"Well then, you truly are one-of-a-kind, not only can you use telepathy to communicate, but you can channel your thoughts through electronic devices via direct contact..."  
Amelia looks at Summer and then over at the F-105, which is sitting ready to start up outside the hangar.

 _Headmaster...I told Summer I'd take her up on a flight, we're burning daylight. Can we continue this some other time?_

Ozpin smiles and nods.

Amelia shoves her phone in her vest and jumps up, turning her attention to Summer.

 _Come on! Time's a-wastin!_

Summer nods and jumps up as Amelia sprints past her mom to the plane, Summer hot on her heels as she nimbly clambers up the ladder.  
Amelia helps Summer get buckled in again, her helmet still being connected to the comms stack.  
Amelia quickly tunes the radio and steps away, allowing Summer to close and lock her canopy.  
She then climbs into the pilot's seat and plugs her helmet in, dialing in her own comms stack before closing and locking the canopy.

She's halfway through the startup process when Summer crackles over the radio.

{So how is this going to work? You can't speak.}

Amelia rolls her eyes and directs her thoughts through the microphone on her throat.

 _According to Ozpin I can relay through electronics to the speakers on the other end, so I'll just do this, unless of course you want me in your head._

She starts spooling up the engines when Summer responds.

{Okay, that is really cool. But yeah, it is easier to hear through the speakers...err... you know what I mean!}

Amelia gives a silent laugh, her body shaking as she lights the engine.

 _Yes Summer, I know exactly what you mean._

Checking the instruments one more time Amelia signals for the chocks to be pulled and taxis down to the end of the runway.  
She stops at the end of the runway, ready to take off.

 _Ready for the view and ride of your life?_

Of course! I've always wanted to do this!

Amelia grins and jams the throttle forwards, putting the engine into full military power, and then full afterburner.  
The F-105 surges forward, and Amelia sort of tunes into Summer's mind like a radio subconsciously to monitor her reaction.

 _By the way, I'm going to tune in here for a bit while we climb, I'll let you know when to put your oxygen mask on._

 _"'Oh...okay! This is fun!'"  
_  
Amelia grins and pulls back on the stick, allowing the craft to climb into the afternoon sky.  
She raises the landing gear and loosely circles the airfield once before before climbing.

 _Let me know if you start to black out, it's easy to pull a ton of G's in this plane and not realize it._

"' _Okay! One question, what are G's? I know you aren't talking about thousands._ '"

 _G's are the amount of gravity is being applied on your body. For instance, three G's is equal to three times the initial gravitational pull that you experience on the ground. The more G's you pull, the faster you can black out. Jackson pulled ten G's for two seconds a couple months ago, and it felt like my face was melting before he eased off._

Amelia hears Summer snort in her mind, and she flicks a switch down by her throttle that locks the harnesses for both of the aviators.

 _"'Huh? Why did my harness just lock?'"_

Amelia grins fiendishly and throttles back out of afterburner before abruptly rolling the plane right and jamming the stick into her gut.  
She watches the 'G' meter spike up to eight G's, staying there for three seconds before she straightens out of the turn.

 _Hey, you still awake back there?_

"' _Yeah, I just felt like I had a Goliath standing on my chest_.'"

 _That was only eight G's, so you can imagine what ten feels like. But anyways, mask on, we're now passing ten thousand feet._

Amelia pulls the mask across her face and mouth, taking a deep breath to ensure the oxygen is flowing well.  
 _  
"'So, got any stories?'"_

 _Oh I've got tons of stories, some good, some bad, some sitting in the middle right around ugly._

"' _Let's hear a funny story._ '"

 _Alright, how about...when Jackson lost a bet and had to fly for a week in nothing but a dress and his helmet?_

Amelia has Summer in stitches by the time they reach 35,000 feet. She figured out that one neat little thing she could do with the telepathy is literally share a mental image with the other person, which made storytelling all that much better.  
She finishes the story and waits for Summer to recover from laughing hysterically, once she's composed Amelia puts the plane into a gentle right bank.  
Below them stretches out the vast kingdom of Vale, the setting sun turning the white fluffy clouds a mixture of gold and red as it says goodbye for the night.

 _Hey Summer._

"' _Yeah?_ '"

 _Look off to our right._

"'Wow...it's gorgeous... is that Beacon down there?'"

 _Yeah, welcome to my office. Thirty-five thousand feet, cruising at five hundred knots. This is where I've done most of my thinking...most of the important stuff anyways._

"' _I can see why, it's so serene. I can't imagine what it would be like being able to see this view every day._ '"

 _Well, if I label the flights as 'photo reconnaissance' in my flight log I might be able to work something out with Jackson. I'll actually have to take pictures, but it shouldn't be too bad._

"'You'd do that for me?!'"

 _Of course Summer, you're pretty much my best friend. Which is something I haven't had since I was in elementary school._

 _"'Really? What about Jackson? Or Kimberly?'"_

 _That's...complicated..._

 _"'Oh? Do tell.'"_

 _Later, as for right now, text Tai and have him head up to the roof, I've got a fiendish idea that you're going to love._

 _"'On it!'"_

 _Also, let me know when you're done, because I'm going to give you some very specific G survival instructions._

There's a minute of silence.

 _"'Alright! He's on his way up.'"_

 _Awesome. Now listen closely, because what I'm about to do our group calls 'the crusher', it puts a ton of G's on you for an extended amount of time, and the end it the toughest part. When we're pulling G's and you feel yourself starting to black out it's because there's less blood in your head. To keep the blood in your head you need to clench your stomach as hard as you can and hitch your breath. It's a bitch to do and not pass out. If you can't see anything let me know and I'll pull out of the maneuver._

 _"'Okay...this sounds dangerous...'"_

 _Just a little, but the end result is I'm going to scare the shit out of Tai._

 _"'How?'"_

Amelia uses a mental picture of the F-105 streaking mere feet above Taiyang's head.

 _"'To hell with it. Let's do this!'"_

Amelia grins and locks their harnesses before popping the air-brakes, completely cutting throttle, and rolling over into a dive.  
She corkscrews towards the earth, the 'G' meter reading a measly four G's before she lights the afterburner and retracts the air-brakes, rocketing towards the ground before she does the final part, a crushing nine 'G' pull to avoid smashing into the ground at nearly the speed of sound.  
 _  
You alright back there?_

"' _Yeah! This is exhilarating!_ '"

 _Here comes the school, I can see Tai on the roof. Here we go.  
_  
She rolls the plane inverted and aims about ten feet above Tai's head, addressing him with her telepathy to get his attention.

 _Hey blondie, turn around._

 _"'Wha-?'"_

Amelia watches in cruel satisfaction as he turns around to face them, the setting sun in his eyes.  
By the time he sees the plane it's too late to duck, and they shriek over his head just forty knots short of the speed of sound.

Immediately after Amelia rolls back over and ascends to five-hundred feet, where she silently laughs so hard she cries as Tai throws unknown obscenities at her while giving her the finger.

 _WORTH IT!_

 _"'Totally!'"_

* * *

With the sun now set Amelia lands back at the airfield and parks the plane in its usual hangar.  
The flight crew wheel the ladder up to the side of the plane and Amelia steps out, quickly helping Summer get unhooked before helping her out of the plane and onto the small boarding gantry.

"That was so much fun! I can't wait to do it again!" Summer huffs, still riding the adrenaline rush from the crazy maneuver fifteen minutes earlier.

 _All in a day's work!_

Amelia stretches her arms off to the side while Summer climbs down the ladder, her helmet in her left hand.

She notices the ground crew head officer smoking a cigarette out front of the next hangar over and leans on the rail of the small gantry.

 _Hey._

The man flinches and looks around, his gaze finally locking on Amelia, who's staring at him.

 _When you have the time, meaning once you get all the aircraft assembled, get this beast setup for photo recon, there's a bomb bay you can put the equipment in._

He gives her a loose salute, which she returns with a smile.

 _Also, leave me one of those cigs, it's been ages since I last had one._

He nods again and pulls out a pack, leaving the cigarette in the crook of two steel support beams.

 _Thanks._

She straightens up and looks down the ladder, where Summer is curiously staring up at her. "Thinking about something?"

Amelia nods and slides down the ladder before throwing an arm over Summers shoulders as they walk into the hangar.

Suddenly there's a flash and Amelia looks around to find Jackson standing there in a pair of greasy, dirty coveralls with a camera.

"Congrats on surviving your first flight in a thud Summer!" He cheers, a big grin on his face.

Amelia flips him the bird at what he's insinuating, and they keep walking, up to the living quarters.

They both change out of their flight suits and into their street clothes.

"Oh for Oums sake!" Summer whines while looking at her phone.

 _What? Something wrong?_

"Yeah, the ferry from Vale to Beacon shut down half an hour ago."

 _Oh. Shit...I'm sorry Summer..._

"It's fine, but it looks like I'll be spending the night here."

Amelia smiles and digs in her dresser for a second before throwing Summer a pair of pajamas.

 _Slumber party it is then! Go take a shower, I'm going to go check with the head of the guard to ask something.  
_  
Summer grins and nods, heading straight into the bathroom with the pajamas under one arm.

As soon as the door shuts Amelia walks down the stairs and out to where the chief mechanic was smoking. She easily finds the cigarette and pulls a Zippo lighter out of her pocket, flicking the wheel once. Twice. And finally on the third try it lights, bathing Amelia's face in an orange glow while she lights the thick roll of tobacco.

She takes a long drag and leans against the side of the hangar, tilting her head up before blowing the smoke towards the barely visible stars.

"I didn't think you of all people would take up that habit, I know you hated the smell of my cigarettes." Amelia flinches at the voice, but doesn't move her gaze from the stars, it's just her mom after all.

 _Yeah, well...yours were cheap, and that cinnamon smell they had mixed in made me want to vomit. This one isn't too bad, not as good as a pack I got from Israel, but better than a pack I got from some guy in an Iraqi market. That one DID make me puke. But what brings you out here? I figured you'd be watching over the assembly process._

Janet grins and pulls a pack of cigarettes out of her vest, sticking one in her mouth before patting her pockets for a lighter. Amelia grins and tosses her the Zippo.  
"I wanted to talk to you about that new eye of yours. And ask you how you've been doing." She explains as she lights the cigarette, tossing the lighter back to Amelia.

 _To answer your question of how I've been doing, today has been one hell of a day. I'm still getting used to this thing, but it's intriguing nonetheless. I'm not going to say that I'm breaking away from Pontiac flight, but I need to take some time to just blow some shit up on my own, and try to work out some sort of truce with my inner demons._

Amelia blows out another column of smoke and glances sideways at her mom.

"Well, I understand that last bit. I'm guessing you and Jackson are both in need of some thinking?"

Amelia sighs through her nose in response.

 _Is it really that obvious? We've been trying to keep it on the down-low for about a year now._

Janet reaches into her pants pocket and pulls out an unopened pack of cigarettes before tossing them to Amelia.

"Yeah, it is. Come on, there's a better place we can talk."

Amelia snatches the pack out of the air and jams it in her pocket, pulling the hood up on her black cloak before following her mom.  
Janet leads her to a small office-like building at the rear of the center old hangar, where she opens the door and Amelia walks in, finding a simple wooden table with four chairs and an ashtray.

She sits down and cracks a window before kicking her feet up on the table and pulling her hood back.

"So about that eye of yours, there's several things it can do other than simply help you see."

Amelia freezes when she's pulling a fresh cigarette out of the new pack, and looks at Janet.

 _Like?_

Janet smiles and pulls a small tablet out of her back pocket, sliding it across the table.

"Take a look for yourself."

Amelia holds the unlit tube of paper and tobacco in her lips as she looks at what's on the tablet.

 _Strategic overlay, aircraft systems control, weapons selection, CCTV camera hacking, and...TGP control for ground attack...well you've been busy. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed._

She lays the tablet on the table and slides it back before lighting her cigarette.  
"Only the best for my beloved daughters." Janet's voice is sincere as she looks at Amelia.

 _So how do I use those features?_

Janet shakes her head for a second. "Most of those are built-in things for your aircraft, so I'll walk you through it when the planes are ready."

Amelia nods and stares at the ceiling in thought.

"But I'm going to leave the illegal stuff to you to figure out. Anyways, feel free to use this building whenever you want. I've got to go make sure those crews aren't fucking anything up. Catch you tomorrow after school."

Janet stands up and walks out, leaving Amelia to finish her cigarette in silence.

* * *

When she walks back in Amelia finds Summer in the kitchen, cooking what smells to be cookies.  
Amelia smiles and leans in through the window, a smirk tugging at the edges of her mouth.

 _What's cookin'? Smells like something yummy!_

Summer looks up from her phone, first checking the timer on the oven, then looking at Amelia.

"Four batches of my chocolate chip cookies. I've been perfecting the recipe, and I think I've got them just right now."

Amelia smiles and walks around to the door, leaning against the door frame and pulling her hood back.

 _Four? Don't you think that's a bit...overkill?_

Summer shakes her head as the oven beeps. She puts on a pair of oven mitts and pulls two trays out, setting them on the counter before grabbing the other two and doing the same.

"Not really, I was thinking that all of the guards and crews could have some, I've seen them working their asses off since they got here, why not treat them a little? And there'd still be a dozen left for you guys."

Amelia bites her lip in thought, playing with the ring on her right ring finger.

 _Gah fuck it, why not. Let me know when they're cool enough to handle, we'll go hand them out_.

Summer pumps a fist in celebration and runs upstairs to grab her cloak, quickly returning with it draped over her shoulders.

Amelia spends some time across the hangar from the kitchen, playing a larger version of darts with combat knives.  
After about two minutes Summer declares the cookies cooled, and Amelia finishes making the smiley face on the large throwing board before walking over.

"I found this basket in a cabinet, it looks big enough, and I washed it out with a wet rag."

Amelia nods and grabs a cookie, taking a bite out of it and chewing it slowly. Her eyes widen and she stares at Summer in amazement.

 _Oh my god Summer, you are giving me your recipe. These are amazing!_

Summer blushes and puts the other batches of cookies in the basket, closing the lid before looping her arm through the handle.

"They're nothing special... I've just spent a lot of work perfecting the recipe."

Amelia enjoys the rest of the cookie, savoring the way the center almost melts in her mouth.

 _And that is exactly why you're giving me your recipe, because I have never, ever, had cookies this good before._

Summer blushes as red as her namesake before grabbing Amelia by the arm and leading her out of the hangar.

They walk up to the front of the first hangar, and Amelia smiles to the guard before Summer offers him a cookie, which he graciously accepts before opening the doors to let them in.  
Amelia gets in the door and stops, staring at the aircraft under assembly in front of her.

"What's up? Something wrong?"

Amelia wipes her eyes and shakes her head to clear it before looking at the plane again.

 _Summer, pinch me please_.

Summer pinches her on the neck, and Amelia gives her a nod of thanks.

 _I can't believe it, this is a state-of-the-art fighter, this thing can fly loops around anything we've ever fielded before. I don't know what to say other than wow._

They walk forward, and Amelia whistles with her fingers to get everyone's attention.  
Summer opens the basket and Amelia motions to it, holding up her index finger.

"As a thank you for your hard work today." Summer elaborates.

Everyone stops what they're doing and gets a cookie before thanking the young women and getting back to work, their snack break over.

As they walk out Amelia is beaming with joy, but Summer watches as she fishes the pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and sticks one in her mouth and gives her a glaring look of disapproval.

 _I know, it's a bad habit, but it's been a long day, and the nicotine is the only thing keeping me going right now_.

Summer shakes her head and takes a sliding step away as Amelia lights the cigarette, taking a satisfying puff on it before blowing the smoke to the shattered moon.

"I don't know how you can stand smoking, the smell is awful." Summer coughs from the smoke despite it being blown away from her. There's a considerable wait before Amelia's response.

 _I don't know how else to say this, so I'm just going to be honest. I've been in situations where I would have gladly taken the smell of a bad cigarette over the stench of rotting flesh. It's an acquired taste._

Summer looks at her to see if she's joking, but the face of the cloaked pilot is solemn, her emotional eye filled with sorrow.

Amelia is suddenly stopped, a warm feeling around her waist as Summer hugs her gently.

Her eye tears up slightly, a single solitary tear making a break for it before Amelia wipes it away.

 _Thanks Summer, I really needed that. Come on, let's go give the other crews their cookies._

They head to the next two hangars and repeat the same process as the first, minus the disbelief.  
When they reach the fourth they give the guard a cookie and go inside, and when Amelia sees the plane her half-smoked cigarette falls out of her mouth, landing on the floor. But she's too busy staring at the plane in front of her.

 _You've gotta be shittin' me._

That's the only thing Amelia says as she walks to the plane, dragging her fingertips across the large 30mm Gatling gun in the nose and up the bottom jaw of the shark's mouth painted on the nose. Summer stares at her questioningly as she walks around the entire aircraft, completely mesmerized by it.

"So what's so special about this one?" Summer asks her as she grins wildly.

 _Summer, this is by far, the most badass ground attack aircraft ever made. The plane was designed around the gun in the nose._

Summer looks at the plane again and shrugs before leading Amelia to the next hangar, and so on down the line until they reach the end and a guard gives them a ride back to the main hangar.

Amelia smokes one last cigarette before heading in, quickly changing into her pajamas and falling asleep on the couch, choosing to give Summer her bunk.

* * *

 **POV switch- Jackson, 3rd person  
**  
When 0530 swings around the next morning Jackson wakes up feeling refreshed. He quietly hops out of his bunk and gets dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top. He keeps his boots off until he reaches the door to avoid waking anyone up, and after tying them runs out into the dark for his morning PT.

* * *

 **POV switch-Summer, 3rd person**

Soon after Jackson runs out Summer gets up, the wire and fabric bed belonging to Amelia having felt rather uncomfortable, more so than expected. She quickly and quietly changes into her street clothes, leaving the borrowed pajamas in the dirty clothes before she heads downstairs, her pure white cloak flowing out behind her and showing the red inside.

She sits down in the recliner while waiting for everyone else to wake up, and after playing some stupid game on her scroll that Tai got her hooked on she notices Amelia tossing and turning, her breath coming in short, quick pants.

"Oh dear, she's having a nightmare..." Summer mutters to herself as she gets up and kneels down by the flailing woman.

She grabs Amelia by the shoulder and gives her a small shake, trying to relieve her of whatever terror she's facing in her dreams, but the shake doesn't work, the flailing just gets more intense.

Just then she hears the thundering of boots on pavement, and she looks over to see Jackson sprinting over, waving his arms no.

Summer looks back at Amelia and gives her one more stubborn shake.

The reaction is spontaneous, Amelia's hand thrusts into her pocket and pulls out the same knife Summer saw her throw at Tai the previous day, her eyes bolt open and lock onto Summer as the hand swings towards her throat, the blade of the knife extending with a 'click!' as Amelia's emotional eye shows a murderous intent that Summer had never seen before.

Amelia registers who it is last-second, and her arm extends more, her forearm colliding with Summers left shoulder as she throws the knife across the room, the clatter of the metal blade on concrete wakes everyone else up instantly.

Amelia covers her mouth and her expression is one of complete horror.

Summer stares at her, stunned.

Amelia stares for a second before bolting up, running out of the hangar at a blistering pace.

"Amy wait!" Jackson yells after her, but it's too late, she's already gone.

Jackson huffs and walks over to Summer, who is still frozen in place, her brain desperately trying to comprehend what just happened.  
"Hey Summer, sit, let's have a talk."

Summer nods and allows herself to be seated on the couch.

"You remember what I said when we got shot down? Right before we landed?"

Summer shakes her head no, and Jackson sits down next to her.

"I told you why I was taking all her knives and weapons off of her, to keep her from killing someone if they woke her up wrong...well, today you got extremely lucky, because that was the _worst_ way to wake her up."

Summer looks up at him, a confused expression on her face, but terror in her eyes.

"What happened that made her like that?"

Jackson leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Well...we got shot down and captured..."

* * *

 **POV switch- Amelia, 3rd person**

Amelia runs out back of the hangars, ducking into the small building she talked with Janet in the previous night before flopping into the chair.

 _Fuck!_

She puts her head in her hands, tears streaking down her face.

 _Jesus Christ what's wrong with me!? I almost stabbed my best friend!_

She sobs for a few minutes before wiping the tears from her face, thrusting a shaking hand into her pocket and producing the pack of cigarettes. She grabs one in her lips and drops the pack on the table, fishing around in her pocket again for her lighter, trying to get the battered souvenir to light before giving up and exchanging it for a matchbox.

She strikes a match and holds the small flame against the extra paper on the end of the cigarette.  
After the flame catches she gives it a few short puffs, her hands on the table as she stares at the opposite wall.

She sits there in darkness, the only illumination being the small red glow of the cigarette as she contemplates what to do next.  
As dawn fast approaches the door opens and Janet walks in, a black flight helmet under her arm.

"I heard what happened, I figured you'd be here."

Amelia doesn't even move, she just keeps staring at the wall, slowly puffing the lit cigarette in her lips.

 _You need something? I'm not in a sociable mood right now_.

Janet walks over and sits down in a chair next to her, putting the black helmet on the table.  
"I came by to drop this off, your new helmet for the warthog and the hornet, when you plug into the radio it'll also plug you into all the glass cockpit systems, and you'll be able to display them on your eye without putting them on the display."

Amelia snuffs out the cigarette and looks at the helmet, the simple age-old design seems different somehow when you paint it black, and Amelia smiles.

 _Thanks mom, you want to go for a flight later? Just the two of us, like old times?_

Janet smiles and nods, sticking a cigarette in her lips before lighting it with an engraved Zippo lighter.  
"I'd love to, but I've got to fly down to Menagerie to meet up with a couple of friends, they're going to be working with us."

 _That's fine, I can go with you, it'll give me a good chance to think and get familiarized with the hornet_.

Janet shrugs and pulls her phone out, tapping on it a few times before showing the screen to Amelia, who scrutinizes it thoroughly before handing it back.

 _Sounds like fun, let's do it._

Janet smiles and puts the phone back in her pocket, taking one last drag on her cigarette before grinding the tip into the table and leaving the snuffed-out remnants in the ashtray.  
"Awesome, I'll have your plane fitted out like mine, we're wheels-up in one hour."

Amelia nods and pockets her pack of cigarettes before standing up, grabbing her new helmet, and walking out.

When she walks into the main hangar she finds everyone sitting at the couches, telling Summer stories. Amelia ignores them, instead running up the stairs and grabbing her flight gear before heading into the bathroom and emptying her pockets onto the counter. She quickly sheds her pajamas and dons her equipment, including a new black flight suit that was laying on her bed.

After throwing her pajamas in the dirty clothes hamper, filling her pockets with her belongings, and running a brush through her hair, she walks out, straight into Summer.

"Hey Amy...you uh...you might want this."

Summer hands her the stiletto knife she'd almost stabbed her with twenty minutes earlier.

 _Thanks Summer...I'm sorry about what happened earlier..._

Summer grabs her by the shoulders, forcing her to look the shorter girl in the eyes.

"It's fine, Jackson and the others explained everything to me. I was the one who messed up, and it won't happen again."

Amelia smiles and hugs her, ignoring the slight pain in her ribs.  
They hold the embrace for a minute before Amelia breaks away.

 _Sorry...I'm not going to be in class today...I'm taking a flight with my mom down to menagerie to meet a couple people._

Summer nods and grabs Amelia's black cloak, handing it to her.

"Here, might as well finish the ensemble. Now go get 'em."

Summer pats her on the shoulder, and she nods before throwing the cloak on over her flight gear and running down the stairs, brushing past Jackson and running down the line of hangars until she reaches one with a black heart above the door, her emblem.

She slides the doors open to find the flight crew waiting, behind them is a FA/18E Super Hornet loaded for bear with missiles and three drop tanks.

She smiles and moves to the boarding ladder, where the man standing at the bottom of the steps salutes her.

She salutes back and climbs into the cockpit, quickly buckling herself in and putting on her helmet.

She plugs her helmet in and her left eye displays an option for 'automatic startup', which she gladly takes.

Suddenly switches all around the cockpit start flipping on their own, and Amelia listens in amazement as the engine spools up two minutes later.

After checking all the instruments she gives the flight crew a thumbs up and closes the canopy, locking it before removing the parking brake and taxiing out of the hangar.  
She looks off to her right to find that her mom is also taxiing out.  
She tunes her radio and transmits.

 _Pontiac one checking in_.

{That's a negative, your callsign is now Angel. Ozpin ordered it.}

Amelia rolls her eyes and turns on her formation lights, slowly rolling down the taxiway behind her mom.

 _Roger that, did we all get callsign changes?_

{Yep, I'm Titan, Jackson is Viper, Cassie is Bulldog, and Kimberly is Razor.}

Amelia grins at the callsigns, all very badass and they actually made sense with the people they were assigned to.  
They taxi onto the runway and Janet puts her plane into afterburner, the bright flame lighting up the tarmac below her as she accelerates down the runway.  
Amelia waits about two seconds before doing the same, and soon she's lifting off the ground and raising her landing gear.

 _How high are we climbing?_

{Thirty.}

 _Roger._

Amelia puts her oxygen mask on and pulls up alongside her mom, she has her weapon selection pulled up on her left eye as they reach thirty thousand feet and level out. The sun only beginning to rise and bathe the clouds below in a red glow.  
Amelia pulls her visor down and they fly in silence for two hours.  
The silence is only broken when there's a ping in her helmet, and Amelia instinctively looks at her RWR.

 _Spike, unknown contact, on the nose, seventy miles._

{Roger, that may be the civilian guard. Hold fire until we get closer.}

Amelia pulls her RWR up on her left eye so she doesn't have to continuously watch it. But she gets nervous when the aircraft closes the gap quickly, flying at the same altitude as them.

 _What kind of aircraft are your buddies flying? Because this might be one of them, they just closed five miles in ten seconds._

{They've got Mirage five Kfir's.}

Amelia reaches over and flips the 'master arm' switch before selecting an AIM-120.

 _I'm ready to rock, I'm doubtful this is one of your friends, unless he's bare and hauling ass._

{Yeah I'm getting that feeling too, lock him up and we'll see what he does.}

Amelia locks the aircraft with radar, but it doesn't deviate from its course.

 _I've got him hard locked, but he's not responding._

Amelia checks the range, and prepares to jettison her two external fuel tanks on the wings.

{I just got off the radio with my friends, they're all on the ground, they say there's been a MIG-21 that strafed the field, and he was last seen heading our way.}

Range is fifty miles now, Amelia squeezes the trigger.

 _Fox three._

The AIM-120 flies off the rail and tracks beautifully, slamming into the supersonic aircraft at forty miles.

As the plane spirals towards the ocean below Amelia notices two delta wings and the telltale MIG-21 tail amongst the fireball.

 _Yep, that was a Fishbed alright. I think I saw Egyptian markings._

{Roger that, scratch one for the Angel.}

Amelia rolls her eyes and turns the master arm off.

{I almost feel sorry for him, poor bastard never stood a chance!}

Amelia grins behind her oxygen mask, pulling the small black book out of her vest and putting another tick mark under 'MIG-21'.

* * *

They arrive over Menagerie an hour later, landing on a concrete runway surrounded by tropical forest.  
As they taxi to the parking area Amelia notices three Kfir's parked under camo nets by a small barracks, all of which have Israeli markings.  
They park, power down, and Amelia hops out, leaving her helmet in the plane so she doesn't have to carry it around.

"These are all great guys, I helped them out when they first showed up, they were just as confused as I was." Janet explains, leading her towards the barracks, which appears to have some bullet holes in the roof.

 _Alright, I'm just going to stay quiet until someone asks why I'm not talking. Probably better that way_.

They hear a bunch of laughing from inside, and Janet sticks her head in the doorway. "Hey there boys, you got room for two more?"

"Sure! Come on in out of that blasted heat. It's been awhile since I saw you, you haven't aged a bit."

Janet leads the way in, and Amelia follows, keeping her cloak pulled around her with the hood up.

"Thank you Giora. Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my oldest daughter, this is Amelia, her and her flight were fighting in Syria and somehow ended up here in Remnant."

The man identified as Giora stands up from the small table the three are sitting at, and extends his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Giora, flight leader."

Amelia pulls her hood back and shakes his hand, smiling.

He looks to Janet when Amelia doesn't say anything. "Quiet one eh?"

Janet shakes her head and sits down at the end, Amelia walks over and sits next to her. "Yes and no. Yes she's quiet, but it's not by choice, she can't speak, at all."

Giora sits down and stares in surprise down the table. "She can't be a very good fighter pilot. Communication is key!"

Amelia scowls, pulls out her pocketbook, and opens it to her kill tallies before sliding it down the table to him.

He picks it up and his jaw drops.  
Amelia grins and motions for him to turn the page.  
He turns the page to her ground kills, and his eyes go wide.

"And you are...how old?"

Amelia motions for her book back, and he slides it back to her.

"She's twenty-four. And her status as a mute is only recent as a side effect of her discovering her semblance." Janet clarifies, a wide grin on her face.

One of the other men puts down the cards he was holding and looks at Janet. "And what is her semblance? I imagine it would have to be a rather powerful one for the compromise to be losing her voice."

"Ironically enough, the headmaster at Beacon called it 'communication'."

The three guys look at each other and roar with laughter, and Amelia kicks her feet up on the table, leaning back in her chair.

 _And what's so funny about that?_

They suddenly stop laughing and look around, their eyes settling on Amelia, who has a shit-eating grin on her face.

 _That's right shitheads, that was me._

They stare at her in shock, a cigarette falls out of one's mouth and lands in his lap.

 _Boo_.

Giora pulls the cigarette out of his lap and sticks it back in his mouth, an impressed look on his face. "Well then, that certainly made things a lot less...ordinary."  
Amelia snorts and pulls her cigarettes out of her pocket

 _You're telling me! Confused the hell out of me when it first happened_.

She sticks one in her mouth, and Giora lights it for her. She takes a long drag and lets it out before anyone says anything.

"So, shall we mount up? We've got all our equipment packed already." Giora breaks the awkward silence, standing up and grabbing his helmet.

"Yes, let's. The sooner we get back the easier it will be to get you gentlemen settled in."

They all stand up, and Amelia leads the way out, her black cloak hardly being disturbed in the slightest by her movements as she quickly smokes her cigarette.  
Without a glance back she climbs into the seat of her Hornet and puts her helmet on, once again opting for the automatic start as the Israelis climb into their planes.

She pays attention to which switches flip, noting the sequence as the engine spools up.  
Once her engine is started she closes and locks the canopy before turning her radio on.

 _Angel checking in_.

{Titan checking in.}  
{Saber one, checking in.}  
{Saber two, checking in.}  
{Saber three, checking in.}

Amelia taxis past the three Kfir's, leading by example for the aging men in them.

{Angel huh? What a fitting callsign for such a gorgeous woman!}

 _Flattery will get you nowhere but on my shit list, so don't even start_.

There's a moment of silence before the same voice crackles over the radio.

{And how bad is your shit list?}

Amelia pulls the visor down on her helmet while thinking of a good response, but Janet beats her to it.  
{By shit list she means they'll find pieces of you in a shit-filled ditch somewhere in the woods.}

Saber three remains silent for the rest of the flight, staying as far away in the formation as possible from Amelia.

* * *

Once they touch down in Vale Amelia switches helmets and waits for Summer, who doesn't keep her waiting long. Summer practically sprints into the hangar, heading straight up to the bathroom and changing into her flight suit.

Amelia helps her into the extra necessities and they walk out to the F-105, which has been modified for photo reconnaissance over the course of the past few hours.  
Summer manages to buckle herself in, and Amelia nods to her before climbing into her own seat and strapping in.  
Soon they're flying across the evening sky, the sky completely void of clouds as they head south over mountain Glenn, the sun easing its way down to the horizon.  
Amelia pushes the plane to the limits, flying at the edge of mach 2 at 35,000 feet.

 _Alright Summer, we're coming up on the target now, it's an easy run this time, just flip those switches in order when I say._

{You got it! What exactly are we taking pictures of?}

 _An old village._

{Oh, alright.}

 _Get ready...now!_

Thirty seconds pass, and Amelia looks out of the cockpit, down towards the ground.

 _I think that was pretty good! We'll find out when we get back._

{Hey Amy? I'm getting kinda light-headed back here, everything's getting blurry.}

Amelia registers the delirious-sounding tone in Summer's voice and checks the oxygen pressure for her partner's tank.

Empty.

 _Shit! Summer hold on! We've gotta dive!_

She snaps the plane inverted and pulls hard, popping her airbrakes in the process before throttling back.  
The plane shudders from the G's as Amelia pulls a hard turn at nearly mach 1.5, but she continues with the dive, corkscrewing towards the earth before pulling out of the dive at 5,000 feet and putting the engine into full afterburner.

The landscape below is a blur of green, and Amelia takes the fastest route back to the airfield, flying straight over mountain Glenn going faster than the speed of sound.

 _Summer how you doing back there?! Talk to me!_

{I'm alright, still a little dizzy, and things are still kinda blurry. What was that earlier?}

 _That was what's called hypoxia, it's your brain misfiring due to a sufficient lack of oxygen. Someone didn't refill both oxygen tanks._

{Oh...will I be okay?}  
 _  
Yeah, you'll be fine, but I'm cutting this flight short to make sure. Sorry, I'll make it up to you next time.  
_  
Summer groans in the radio but Amelia ignores it as she lines up with the runway.

The landing this time is a little rougher than usual, and Amelia pops the drag chute to slow the plane down faster, though with such a long runway it's not necessary.

She taxis the plane to the maintenance hangar and radios for a medical crew while she's shutting the engine down.

By the time the engine is shut down and the flight crew wheels the ladder up to the aircraft a medical team is standing by.

Amelia practically flies out of the cockpit and helps Summer out, opting to bridal-carry her down the steps and over to the medical team while the flight crew move the plane into the hangar.  
The medics have Summer sit with a small bottle of oxygen for about ten minutes before declaring her safe, and after Summer heads to the main hangar Amelia goes to find the ground crew.

She finds them all on a smoke break, standing outside the hangar belonging to the new arrivals.

 _Who here was in charge of refilling the oxygen on the Thunderchief?!  
_  
A young man about Amelia's age steps forward, his face nervous.

 _You forgot to refill the tank for the back seat.  
_  
She steps forward and pokes a finger in his chest.

 _If you EVER fuck up that bad again I will reprimand you so hard you won't be trusted with cleaning dishes in the mess, understand?  
_  
He gulps and nods, wisely saluting before Amelia wheels around and walks off towards the main hangar.

Amelia and Summer both quickly change into their clothes for class, and Amelia takes the time to borrow Jackson's Kukri for combat class.  
Then they take a shuttle and jog to the arena, where they actually aren't all that late, considering they had two hours between classes.

"Ah, Miss Rose and Miss Ellis, glad you could join us. I was just looking for a volunteer to fight in the arena." Goodwitch calls up to them as they sit down in the top row.  
Amelia stands up and walks down to the arena, where she stands at parade rest.

"Excellent, do we have any challengers?"

Amelia scans the rows of seats, and a familiar face stands up, one belonging to the bully she'd gotten in trouble the week before.

"Very well mister Remington."

The bully walks down to the arena and hefts a large war hammer.

Amelia sizes up her opponent, her arms crossed over her chest as she waits for the timer to count down.  
Heavily armored, large, heavy weapon, with limited reach and defensive capabilities, she was going to have fun with this one.

She pulls out Jackson's Kukri and holds it in front of her aggressively as the final seconds tick down on the clock.

Finally the buzzer sounds, and The kid springs forward, raising the war hammer above his head and swinging it down towards her head.  
Amelia waits until the last second and sidesteps, causing the hammer to smash harmlessly into the arena floor.  
Realizing he missed the poor kid tries to swing the weapon sideways, but Amelia slashes at his wrists, causing him to drop the oversized weapon and step back.

He raises his fists and Amelia smiles, first kicking the hammer clear across the arena before throwing her Kukri in the same direction.  
She raises her fists and the black-haired wall of armor jumps at her, starting out with a rookie hail-Mary.  
Amelia easily sidesteps and starts punishing him for his stupidity, first slamming her elbow into his helmet, and then swinging around behind him, quickly grabbing him around the waist and slamming him into the ground with a suplex.

She backs away and glances at the aura meter while he's unsteadily standing up. From that heavy impact he's already down to 34%, only a few more solid hits are necessary, but Amelia decides for one more good impact.  
He rushes at her, intent on returning the favor, but Amelia jumps to one side and swings herself around, slamming her shin into his chin as he barrels past.  
The move clotheslines him, knocking him out cold, and winning the match with essentially her bare hands.

She walks over to the edge of the arena and puts the Kukri in its scabbard before laying the war hammer across her shoulders and walking back over to his unconscious body.  
With only one hand she grabs him by the back of his armor and drags him out of the arena, leaving the entire class stunned at what they just watched.

She drags him into the locker room and splashes water on his face, causing him to come up sputtering.

He looks around before staring at her in a mixture of awe and wonder.  
"How did... you just...how'd you get so good?" He asks as she helps him up onto his feet and hands him the hammer.

She shares the mental image of some of the most gory things she'd seen in her time in war. Piles of mangled bodies crawling with maggots, the image of an EWO she knew practically turned into hamburger by 30mm cannon shells in their station, and the image of her stabbing her would-be Taliban rapist in the throat with the blood spraying out of his jugular.

 _How did I get so good? Simple. Win, or die._

He stares at her in horror after she shares those photos, he quickly runs to the nearest trash can and vomits into it, heaving for several minutes before straightening up and turning to her.  
"You...you saw all of that?"  
She nods gently and turns to leave, her gray cloak pulled around her.

 _That isn't the worst of it either. Just remember this, most of those, especially the last one, were because of someone hating another person just because of who they are. I've been killing people like that for the past five years, so consider yourself lucky that I didn't kill you the first time we met. Because I can't stand bullies._

With that she walks out, leaving the armored brute standing in the middle of the locker room, completely stunned.

She returns to her team and sits down next to Summer, tucking one of her bangs behind her ear as she sits.

"Something wrong? You sure took a while." Summer whispers to her while Goodwitch chooses another pair to fight in the arena.

 _Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking. That kid just asked me how I got so good, so I showed him a few images that I've always kept to myself. He vomited and I gave him a stern warning not to fuck with me again._

Summer gives her a concerned look before turning back to watch the match.  
Despite her morals telling her not to Amelia tunes into Summer's mind and listens to what she's thinking.

 _"'I should probably ask her what the pictures were, but I don't want to pry. But I also really want to know what they were..'"_

Amelia lays a hand on Summers shoulder and looks her in the eye.

 _If you want to know, I'll share them with you. But they are very gruesome and I wouldn't be surprised if you puked._

Amelia turns back to watch the match as Summer thinks, and the entire match passes before she gives her answer.

"I want to see them, you don't have to carry a burden on your own."  
Amelia sighs and closes her eyes, sharing only the image of the eviscerated pilot with Summer.

"...wow...that's...disgusting."

Amelia snorts and opens her eyes as Goodwitch looks for more volunteers for fights.

 _That is by far the most timid of the three I showed him, if you think that's bad I'm definitely not sharing the first one with you, because with that one, what is seen cannot be unseen._

Summer scowls at her before looking back down towards the arena floor. "Is it really that bad?"

 _Do you want me to sum it up for you? Because I'm not sharing it._

"Yes please."  
 _  
Mangled corpses and thousands of maggots. That's all you're getting.  
_  
Summer looks over at her in horror while Tai raises his hand and walks down to the arena. Amelia instantly knows what he's doing when he leans into Goodwitch's ear and whispers something. Goodwitch looks up at Amelia and she doesn't even bother waiting to be ordered down into the arena, she stands up and walks down the aisle, slightly opening the front of her cloak as she walks.  
Her and Tai stare each other down while the timer counts down, and Amelia pulls something round out of her pocket.

 _Don't think I'm going to go easy on you simply because we're on good terms._

Tai simply nods in response and readies his gauntlets as the timer reaches 3.  
2  
1

The buzzer sounds and Amelia rolls the object towards him, which rolls to a stop directly in between his feet.  
Tai stares at the m67 fragmentation grenade before looking up at her.

"Aww you bi-"

The grenade goes off and throws him clear across the arena, and there's a buzzer as his aura drops from %100 to %19 from the single blast.  
Amelia grins and walks over to him, offering him a hand up, which he gladly takes.

"That was cheap." He huffs, allowing himself to be helped out of the arena.

 _Oh! That reminds me of what else I was going to say! Don't expect me to fight fair either._

Tai groans and mumbles a string of curses as Amelia leaves him to the locker room and heads back up to her seat.  
When she gets back Summer glares at her.

 _What? After years of fighting in war you don't honestly expect me to fight fair, do you?_

Summer continues her glare as Amelia sits down and pulls out her pocketbook.  
Summer then opens her mouth to say something, but she's interrupted by the bell.  
Amelia quickly scribbles something down in her pocketbook before grabbing her bag, standing up, and briskly walking out.

* * *

She heads straight to the shuttles, and once in Vale heads to a shop she'd seen while wandering around the town. She peruses the shelves, looking for what she needs, and after she finds everything she pays and quickly heads back to the hangar.

 _I'm home!_

The hangar is empty, and Amelia shrugs before emptying the contents of her bag onto a workbench tucked against the wall before going to work on her new project. Soon she steps back with a grin, holding her new device in her hands.  
She hears voices nearing, and gets to work honing the edges of multiple blades that she'd bought as Jackson, Summer, and Kimberly walk into the hangar.

"Hey Amy! I sorta lost you in the crowd." Summer chirps as she walks over with Jackson.  
 _  
Oh yeah, sorry about that, I was really looking forward to building this._

Summer looks over Amelia's shoulder and raises an eyebrow, but when Jackson looks he immediately knows what it is.

"Oh good lord! You made a ballistic knife!?"

Amelia nods and loads a blade into one end of the metal cylinder before stepping over to the throwing board.  
She stands about ten feet away and lets the blade fly, causing it to embed itself deep into the wood.  
Summer looks between the small weapon in Amelia's hand and the blade embedded in the thick wood several times before her eyes light up.

"That is so cool!"

She swarms all over Amelia, asking tons of questions and talking a mile a minute.

 _Summer chill! I'll get you the blueprints later, it's really not even that big of a deal, I just made an existing design from back home._

Despite Amelia's attempts to calm Summer down the shorter girl still vibrates with enthusiasm at the new weapon in Amelia's hands.

Jackson laughs at the sight while he walks over to the living quarters and throws his bag on his bed.

Summer finally calms down and Amelia gets all the blades razor sharp with her help before putting her blade container on her belt.

Satisfied, she hauls all the blades and containers up to the living quarters before cooking dinner for everyone after Cassie and Kimberly get home.  
They eat in relative silence, allowing everyone to think about the events of this morning, much to Amelia's discontent when Jackson brings it up.

"So...about this morning... you think we should tell everyone else? That's kinda a big deal..."

Amelia sighs out her nose and stares at her plate.

 _I'd rather not, if word gets out about it... people are definitely going to look at me differently._

Cassie shakes her head and points her fork at Summer. "Once we explained it to Summer she understood."

"Yeah, but not everyone is as understanding as she is." Kimberly motions to Summer with her hand while she's chewing a piece of broccoli.

"Exactly, it's not like we can ensure they understand, there's still some thick-skulled people out there." Jackson collects the empty plates while he's talking.

"But at the same time, if we don't tell them, something similar may happen again, but with worse results." He continues as Amelia stands up, pushing in her chair.

"Hey, you're part of this conversation, sit back down." Cassie barks, grabbing onto her sister's wrist.

 _I'm going for a smoke. I really don't care what you guys decide on, I simply said I'd prefer if we didn't tell everybody._

Amelia wrenches out of her sister's grip, throws on her black cloak, and walks out, leaving an awkward silence in the hangar.

* * *

 **POV switch-Jackson, 3rd person**

"She's been gone for four hours, this isn't just a smoke break." Jackson mumbles to himself as he retrieves his pistol and Kukri from the living quarters.

"Hey, her pistol is gone too!" Cassie holds up Amelia's vest, the holster is indeed empty, and all five of the magazines are missing.

"As I said, not just a smoke break, she's up to something." Jackson pulls on his leather jacket and puts his Colt in his shoulder holster, as well as a small bandolier of pistol cartridges.

"Should I text Summer? She has a right to know." Kimberly asks as she too grabs her pistol, a Colt Python with a four-inch barrel.

"Might as well, she might be able to help by searching Beacon."

Kimberly starts furiously tapping on her phone, and she quickly gets a response.

"Summer says she'll look around, but it's after curfew."

Jackson puts his baseball cap on and shakes his head.

"Tell her not to worry about it then, no sense in her getting in trouble."

Kimberly sends the message and throws her jacket on, slipping her pistol into her waistband.

"Come on then! The more we sit around the less likely we'll be to find her!"

Everyone files out into the night, heading towards Vale.

* * *

 **POV switch-Amelia, 3rd person**

The club was surprisingly well-lit compared to what she was used to, but Amelia wasn't here to dance, she just needed a drink.

Alas that's exactly what she didn't get, as soon as she got in the door there were a bunch of drunk guys that started following her, trying their hardest to convince her to go home with them.

She waved them off and sat down at the bar, just like she'd always done back home. But they kept trying, and there was no bouncer to be found to drag them out for harassing a customer. She tolerated it for as long as she could, but as the time dragged on they kept getting more and more daring, and by the time one of them grabbed her butt, she was out of patience.

She wheels around and delivers a devastating right hook, knocking the man back into a table where three guys are sitting. She instantly worries that she just started a bar brawl, but when the men simply stand up, brush themselves off, and give her some room, she nods in appreciation to them before grabbing her assailant by the shirt collar and punching him in the nose, repeatedly.

Just as she's getting off of him the drunks buddies try to come to his aid, and one succeeds in smashing her over the head with a chair.  
The unexpected impact knocks her down, and he tries again with the same chair, but she rolls to one side, pulling her pistol out of her waistband as she does, and takes aim at the chair-wielding drunk.

The man freezes, and she stands up, dusting herself off before laying twenty Lien on the bar and walking out, holstering her pistol only once outside.

An hour later she lightly raps on the window of Summers dorm, precariously balancing on the ledge twenty feet off the ground.

The window is opened, and Amelia climbs in to find a very angry Summer in her pajamas.

"Where have you been? Your team has been looking all over Bale for you! And how did you even get to Beacon? All the shuttles are closed for the night!"

 _It's a long story, can I crash here for the night? I'll owe you a favor._

Summer scowls and points to the bathroom.  
"Sure, just please shower first. Tai and Raven went into town, apparently they're dating now, and Qrow is working a part-time job at a diner, so it's just the two of us for most of the night, you can sleep on Tai's bed. I'll let your team know where you are."

Amelia nods and heads into the bathroom, quickly showering and taking ten minutes to thoroughly dry her hair before heading back out dressed in her clothes again.

Summer tosses a quick glance her way from her phone. "Your team is _pissed_."

 _I figured, I sort of walked out and didn't come back. I just...had a lot to think about._

Amelia walks over and flops down on Tai's bed, flipping her hood up.

"You know you can talk to us about stuff." Summer says as she turns the lights off.

 _I know, that's just...not who I am...I don't like to bring other people into my problems if I can help it. I'm still not entirely ready to talk to them...I'm going to go talk to my mom tomorrow, there's been a family matter that has been bugging me for ages, and only her and I can talk about it._

Summer nods and lays down in her bed, laying on her side to look at the figure in Tai's bed, which is almost melting into the shadows.

"Alright, well, I'll talk to you tomorrow morning, try to get some sleep."

Before she finishes talking a gentle snore emits from across the room.

* * *

Amelia wakes up while it's still dark, and uses the opportunity while everyone's still asleep to leave before her team gets there.

An hour later she arrives at her moms house, and waits on the front steps, using the chance to catch another half-hour of sleep on the hard, cold slabs of stone.  
When the sun rises she awakens and knocks on the door.

It takes a minute, but Janet opens the door, a blanket wrapped around her.  
"Morning sweetheart, come on in."

Amelia walks in and follows Janet up to the living room, where they both drink coffee for several minutes before talking.

"So what brings you by this early? I figured you'd be running PT and getting ready for class."

 _I've been doing a lot of thinking... and I've been kinda...avoiding my team..._

"Oh good lord Amy what did you do?"

 _You know what I did, they insist on talking about it, and I really don't want to. I'm giving them space to do what they want while I kill my demons._

"Amelia. You can't just run from a problem like this. This is the kind of thing that breaks up units, you need to talk to them about it."  
 _  
It's only temporary, I'll go to class and everything, but I just can't bring myself to talk to them right now._

Janet sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "You are _so_ my daughter. Alright, if you need a place to crash the guest bedroom is open. You may need to hurry up and get to Beacon, your classes start in half an hour, and you still need to get your bag from the hangar."

Amelia jumps up and kisses her before jogging to the door and leaving.

Ten minutes later she arrives at the hangar and cautiously enters, but the place is empty. She jogs up to the living quarters and grabs her school bag, a change of clothes, and her ballistic knife with blades before heading out, the missing items being the only indication that she was ever there.

Her next objective lies in the cafeteria, where she finds a seat far away from everyone else and keeps her hood up while eating. As she finishes eating her team walks in through the main entrance, and she quickly leaves through the nearest side entrance, confident they didn't see her.

She wanders outside until class starts, and then she heads to Port's class, walking in only slightly late and sitting across the lecture hall from her team.  
As she listens to the story that Port is telling she can practically feel Jackson's piercing stare directed at her, and she tunes into his thoughts.

 _"'When class is over I'm going to handcuff her to me and they're not coming off until she explains what the fuck last night was about.'"_

 _If you want me to come back at all you'll leave me alone. I need another day to set myself straight, in that day I expect you to tell everyone what you need to tell them. Do NOT look for me, you and I both know I won't be found unless I want you to find me. Give me some time, and I'll come back when I'm ready._

"' _Amy you insufferable... GAH! Fine, but if you're not back by the end of the week I'm hunting you down._ '"

 _That's fair, as I said, give me another day or two. When I get back I want no mention of what happened yesterday morning, if there's even a peep I'm turning back around and walking out. Understand?_

 _"'Yes dear, I have your favorite brand in my bag for you by the way. I know you're running low.'"_

 _You mean those ones from Israel!?_

 _"'Yes, the red-bands that you bought like five cartons of. I kept a carton in my plane. If you agree to meet somewhere I'll give you three packs.'"_

 _Deal, meet me at 'from dust till dawn' at eighteen hundred. Come alone or I won't meet. Bring me my money too._

She shuts off the link and listens to Port's stories while reading the packet he'd given her. Class seems to pass quickly and Amelia jumps up when the bell rings, briskly leaving via the side door.

The garden seems empty when she walks through it, yet she can't seem to shake the feeling she's being watched.  
She looks around again, finding nothing she ignores the feeling and walks on to dust mixing class, where once again she can't shake the feeling but nonetheless participates in class, which also passes quickly.  
It's not until after history that she finally figures out what the feeling is.

 _'Someone is tailing me, but I haven't seen anyone...'  
_  
She's in the library reading up on elemental dust when a floorboard creaks in front of her, causing her to look up from the book.  
There's nobody standing there, but looking at the floor she watches a depressed board lift up, as if there had been weight placed on it.

 _I know someone is here, show yourself._

There's a moment where she begins to doubt herself, but she's surprised when she blinks and suddenly Summer is standing there where the board had creaked.

 _You have ten seconds to explain why you've been stalking me for the entire day since Port's class.  
_  
Summer raises her hands in surrender and sits down next to her, a concerned look on her face.

"I wanted to make sure you weren't going to run off again like you did this morning."

Amelia scowls at her before closing her book.

 _I'm not going to, I'm simply avoiding talking with my team. I talked to Jackson today and we're going to meet up, just him and I. I'll be back to normal in a day or so, I just need some time to myself._

Summer nods slowly, understandingly, as Amelia puts the book back on the shelf and grabs her bag.

"Where you going now?"

 _Town, I forgot one piece for my knife, don't follow me please_ **.**

Amelia pulls up her hood and walks out, straight past Kimberly and Cassie, who seem taken aback by her sudden appearance, but make no attempt to follow.

 **Time skip- same day, 1800 hours**

Amelia waits in the shadow of the alleyway, her cloak pulled around her with her hood up. The moon sits high above, casting a dim pale light on everything in direct line of sight with it. Amelia watches as Jackson makes his way down the street, dressed in his leather jacket and a pair of black fatigues, with his tan _'fisherman's marine and outdoor_ ' baseball cap on.

He stops beneath a lamppost and leans against it, checking his watch and looking around repeatedly for several minutes before Amelia walks into the orange glow.  
"Here I was thinking you'd stood me up."

 _Now why would I do that? You obviously have something important to tell me if you're willing to bribe me with my favorite cigarettes.  
_  
He laughs and reaches into his jacket, pulling out a white envelope and handing it to her.  
"The Vacuo government caught wind of you doing photo reconnaissance over Vale. From what the courier told me there's a continent to the north-west of Vale that used to be inhabited, but every time they send people to try to establish communications with the villages there the groups never come back. So they want you to take high-altitude photos of the villages to see if anyone is still alive."  
Amelia opens the letter and reads it over in silence.  
 _  
Alright, I'll do it. But I'm going to need a back-seater. And we fly on my terms, I don't trust governments anymore to tell me when to do recon missions.  
_  
Jackson nods and unzips his jacket, pulling out three packs of cigarettes and handing them to her. "Your options for a back-seater are either Summer or me, and we're being required by Vacuo to have an escort of at least two fighters provided by them."

 _You're with me, not that I don't want Summer, but you have more experience doing this stuff with me.  
_  
Jackson nods and stands up straight, zipping his jacket back up when a cold gust blows through.  
"Alright, in the meantime, you want to go eat dinner? We can consider it a date, we haven't done that since we were in Italy."

Amelia nods and smiles, following Jackson down the street in the orange glow of the streetlights.

 **4 days later, 0535.**

Amelia wakes with a start when there's a loud thump from above her head, and she looks around to find Jackson pushing himself up off the floor. "That's the second time this week I've rolled out of bed..." he groans.

 _Well, we've only got half an hour until we needed to wake up anyways, so good timing._

Jackson looks at the clock next to his bed and sighs before grabbing his clothes and flight suit.  
"We're wheels up in an hour, so let's get ready and grab some grub before we saddle up."

 _Couldn't agree more, let's do this.  
_  
Jackson heads into the bathroom to change, and Amelia gets out of bed, opting to change next to her bed while he's out of sight.  
She puts on her fatigues, followed by her black flight suit, harness, vest, black cloak, and parachute.

By the time Jackson comes out of the bathroom she's grabbed her helmet and is pouring a bowl of cereal in the kitchen.  
"Just cereal? I was thinking something like french toast."

 _And wake our sisters up with the smell? We'd be killed and you know it.  
_  
Jackson nods and pours a bowl himself, eating quickly.  
"So what's with the new helmet? I was meaning to ask you."

 _It links up with the neural interface for my eye, allowing me to bind something to my eye, like the RWR or TGP in my A-10, it really helps when I need to have my eyes out of the cockpit.  
_  
Finishing their food they quickly grab their helmets and head out to the F-105, which is sitting in front of the hangar and go through pre-flight checks.  
Following the pre-flight checks they climb in and check everything, including the oxygen, which Amelia finds to be completely full, much to her satisfaction.

 _So why the sudden change of heart? I always flew back seat with you, and now you're having me fly?  
_  
{Well, you beat your mom in a dogfight, I never have, so until her and I dogfight and I beat her, you're the better pilot.}  
The last four words sends shivers down her spine as she spools up the engine, the loud roar soon drowns out the sound of the night as she taxis to the runway, keeping her lights on inside the cockpit so she can see.  
{Right on track, one minute until wheels up.} Jackson chuckles as they turn onto the well-lit runway.  
She grins and pushes the throttle forwards, accelerating down the runway, and then up into the dark morning sky.

Four boring hours later they cross into Vacuo airspace, and Amelia nearly jumps out of her skin when two tiger-striped MIG-25's pull up next to them.  
{Hello Angel, welcome to Vacuo, please follow us to the airfield, and we shall brief.}  
She gives the lead MIG pilot a thumbs up and he breaks right, shortly followed by his wingman, and then Amelia.  
She tunes into Jackson's head so they can talk in private.

 _I'm not the only one that got scared right?_

 _"'No, I jumped a little when they showed up. I gotta admit though, while that camouflage scheme doesn't seem very functional it does look very slick.'"_

 _No kidding._

 _"'Mind letting me have my head to myself now?'"_

 _Sure I guess._

They fly due north for an hour before the airstrip comes into sight, and Amelia lands first, at the nervous insistence of the two MIG's.  
The second she opens the canopy the humidity swarms her, making her all-black apparel moderately uncomfortable.

They park next to the ATC and hop out, not bothering to wait for the flight crew to wheel the boarding ladder over.  
"Get it refueled, don't touch anything else." Jackson orders them, tucking his helmet under one arm as he follows Amelia into the tall building.

"Good day, please, in here, we will keep this quick." A woman directs them into a small room on the first floor, where they sit and wait.  
Five minutes later a tall man walks in and passes coffee out to them.

"Welcome to Vacuo, before I start the briefing I'm going to say that you are being paid for this, and when you finish there's a plane we're willing to put into the deal, provided you know how to start it up, because we can't find anyone who does. Having said that, let's begin."

The lights dim and a projector turns on, revealing a map of the continent to the north of Vacuo.

"We've been trying to contact four villages for the past several weeks, but every time we send people to try to get in contact, they never come back. Your mission is simple, take aerial photos of the villages to see first if there's anyone still alive, and secondly if there's a chance we could get a message to them we need to. So there's currently a pod of rockets with messages encased in them being loaded onto your plane, that is all."

The lights turn on and he walks out without giving them a chance to answer questions.

"Fuck...alright, I guess we should go saddle up." Jackson grumbles as he stands up.

Amelia nods and sticks a cigarette in her mouth, lighting it with her Zippo before following him out.

The woman in the hall gives Amelia a scowl when she smells the cigarette, but a glare in return keeps her from saying anything.  
When Jackson opens the door he puts his helmet on and lowers the visor, shielding his eyes from the tropical sun as he walks over to the F-105. Amelia also puts her helmet on, sliding the visor down as she slowly walks over, slowly puffing little clouds of smoke as she savors the cigarette.

When she reaches the plane she flicks it onto the tarmac and climbs in, strapping in and closing the canopy, allowing the air conditioning system to work its magic.  
By the time the engine is running the cockpit is a comfortable 65 degrees, and the two Foxbats are ready to lead them to the runway.

The flight to the unnamed continent is short, and from 35,000 feet Amelia can see for miles over the lush green forest below.

{Angel, contact, village, ten o'clock.}

Amelia rolls her eyes at the generic description from the lead MiG pilot, and easily finds the cluster of stone buildings five miles off their left wing. She turns directly towards it and levels out, allowing Jackson to take control of the aircraft and put it on target.  
A minute later his voice crackles over the radio.

{Pictures taken, negative on any signs of life, all the buildings are damaged or destroyed. Let's go find the next village.}

They turn north again, and Amelia spots the next village, this one seeming more temporary, as the buildings seem to be made from wood.  
She lines the plane up with the target and Jackson takes the pictures, taking a minute to analyze them before reporting over the radio.

{Negative, nothing here either, buildings are also destroyed. I really hope this isn't a trend.}

Amelia sighs and turns north again.  
They fly for ten minutes before Amelia spots columns of black smoke on the horizon.

 _Contact! Black smoke, zero-two-six!  
_  
She aims at the columns of smoke and pushes the throttle into afterburner, briefly accelerating away from the MIG's before they catch up.  
Jackson takes pictures of the village, but the smoke is obscuring most of the village.

{if we make a low pass we'll be able to see if anyone is still alive, and if there is we'll be able to help them. Lion flight hold top cover, we'll let you know if we need help.}  
Amelia acknowledges and cuts throttle, popping the air-brakes and slowly spiraling towards the earth.

She levels out at two thousand feet, pulling a crushing eight G's to pull out of the mach-one dive.  
She slows down before she flies over the village, and they catch a brief glimpse of several Grimm roaming the streets.

 _Shit, we're too late. The only things I see are Grimm and the occasional corpse. Ascending back to altitude.  
_  
Amelia pulls up and pushes the throttle into afterburner again, easily climbing back up to altitude despite the two drop tanks and rocket pods attached to the pylons on the wings.  
She shakes the image out of her head when she levels out and turns north, but mere minutes later she spots something odd on the horizon.  
Jackson spots it at the same time.

{What the fuck is _that_?}

The rolling green landscape below gives way to a barren, red landscape, spotted with black pools of what looks to be oil everywhere.

 _I don't know, but make sure you get pictures. Our employer is going to have a field day with this._

{Oh trust me, I'm getting plenty of pictures.} Jackson snarks back, his face buried in the aiming reticle connected to the camera in the bomb bay.  
Suddenly the lead MIG pilot talks over the radio, his voice filled with panic and fear.

{We shouldn't be here, we are nearing Salem's lair! we'll be killed!}

Amelia notes the fear in his voice and transmits to him.  
 _  
If you want to back out, you are welcome to. But I've got a job to do, and I'm not leaving until it's finished.  
_  
The pilot looks over at her with his visor pulled up, a mixture of surprise and respect covers his face like a mask.  
Instead of saying anything else Amelia merely turns in her seat and gives him a salute.

{Lion flight breaking off and returning to base. May Oum be with you Angel.}

He returns the salute and breaks right, pulling a 180 degree turn before heading back with his wingman.

Amelia straightens out in her seat and steels herself, pressing on deeper into the wasteland.

Five minutes later Jacks crackles over the radio.  
{Contact, single building, zero-seven-four, five miles, atop a cliff.}

Amelia spots the object and aims the plane over it, allowing Jackson to take several photographs before turning back north.  
{nothing, but _damn_ there's a ton of Grimm around that building. And there appears to be some sort of casemate on the slope of the hill, might be a-}  
He's cut short when a black cloud pops up directly in front of them, shaking the plane with a rattle that sounds like gravel hitting sheet metal.  
Amelia looks down towards the building, and watches as there's multiple black puffs from entrenched AAA guns that Jackson hadn't seen.

 _Flak! I think we'd better leave while we're ahead!_

Her transmission is further enforced by another set of blasts that shake the plane.  
Instinctively she puts the plane into afterburner and turns south, back towards the way they came.

 _Drop the luggage and the bags! We don't need them anymore!  
_  
 ***KER-THUNK!***

The drop tanks and rocket pods jettison from the pylons, pinwheeling towards the earth as the F-105 surges up and forwards, now much lighter and more aerodynamic.  
The plane shudders once as they break the sound barrier, nosing down into a gentle five degree dive to gain speed in an attempt to get away from the deadly barrage of hot metal.

Soon they're back over the green forest, and Amelia climbs back up to altitude, warily eyeing her fuel.

Then, as suddenly as they had appeared the first time, Lion flight pulls up next to them, shortly followed by a transmission from the flight lead.  
{You live! You flew straight into Salem's lair and came out alive! Drinks are on me tonight my dear!}  
Amelia grins and throttles back, trying to save what little fuel she has left.  
 _  
Thank you for your generous offer, but don't count your chickens before they hatch, I am running dangerously low on fuel and I'm pretty sure we took damage.  
_  
{Of course, allow me to check.}  
The MIG drops below them, crossing to the other side before rolling inverted and crossing back over them before rolling over again.  
{You have taken damage, there is a large hole in your rudder, several small holes in your fuselage and wings, and there's a significant crack in your back seat canopy directly over his head.}  
Amelia cautiously looks over the engine gauges, and notices a rising engine temperature despite having been throttled back.  
 _  
We may have a problem, in the shape of an oil leak. The engine temperature is rising and I've been throttled back since you pulled up next to me._

{Is it in any danger of overheating soon? We still have fifty miles to the coast, and another twenty past that to the airfield.}  
Amelia makes the call and climbs up to 40,000 feet, giving her extra room to glide should she need it.

 _It shouldn't be urgent, but if it comes to it we have an emergency reserve that I can activate to cool it off._

The next thirty minutes seem to drag on for hours, and only once the airfield is in sight does Amelia slightly relax, and she expertly guides the plane in. The approach is good, until the engine quits on final, leaving the plane without power ten feet from the runway.

Acting quickly Amelia lowers the flaps, soon the wheels touch the tarmac and she instantly deploys the drag chute, slowing the plane down considerably in a very short amount of time until she guides the plane into the grass and deploys the parking brake.

The second the plane is stopped she lets out the breath she was holding and turns the rest of the systems off.

The canopy is opened and she's helped out by one of the flight crew, who is replaced by Jackson.  
"We've had a bunch of nervous landings in our time together, but I don't think any of them have _ever_ been that nerve-racking. Pucker factor nine-point-five on that one."  
She nods in response as they sit in the back of a small pickup truck, and are driven to the ATC while the F-105 is pulled into a hangar.

They receive a healthy payment of 5,000 Lien for the mission, and they're lead out to a large hangar far away from the others.  
"As promised, if you can figure out how to start it, you can have it."  
The hangar door opens and Amelia's cigarette falls out of her mouth, her eyes wide and jaw open.  
Jackson stares in amazement before Amelia bumps him.

 _You know what's great about this? I had a fully detailed simulator for this when I was younger, I'm pretty sure I can start it._

Jackson looks over at her in amazement as she bends over and picks up her cigarette.  
When she straightens up she sticks the roll of tobacco in her mouth and grins, walking forward to the ladder pulled up alongside the aircraft.  
"I'll stay here and wait for the one-oh-five to be fixed, you just get that puppy home." Jackson slaps her on the shoulder before she flicks the cigarette away and ascends the ladder, climbing into the front seat.  
She looks around the cockpit before climbing back out.

 _This plane requires special flight suits, where are they?_

The woman points over to one side of the hangar, where two form-fitting space suits are hanging on some hooks.  
Amelia walks over and tries one on, finding it to fit, but only barely and bundles the other suit up before putting the large helmet on.

She tucks the other helmet under her arm and walks back to the plane, quickly setting them in the back seat before closing the canopy and climbing into the pilot's seat.

 _Alright! Get everything clear! Evacuate all personnel from the hangar and immediate area!  
_  
She closes the canopy and straps in, looking around the canopy and trying her best to stir her memory as all unnecessary equipment and personnel is cleared away from the sleek black aircraft.  
It finally starts to come back to her and she starts flicking switches, keeping an eye on her instruments.  
After a tense five minutes she holds down the start button for the twin Pratt & Whitney J-58 engines, and the accompanying roar makes her giddy.  
She tunes the familiar communications stack and radios for the aircraft to be towed to the runway, and before long she's sitting at the end of the runway, waiting for a pair of MIG-25's to move out of the way.  
{Angel, this is delta tower, you are cleared for takeoff. Enjoy your new toy.}

 _Roger that delta tower, Angel taking off._

She pushes the throttle forwards, and the plane surges forward in a fantastic roar.  
She eases back on the stick and the plane ascends into the evening sky.

 _Delta tower, Angel is wheels-up, exiting the pattern to bearing zero-nine-six.  
_  
She raises the landing gear and coaxes the plane around towards Vale, leveling out at 5,000 feet as she flies over the ocean.

* * *

The flight doesn't take very long, and soon the wheels touch pavement with a screech of rubber. Amelia deploys the large drag chute and soon she's turning onto the taxiway.

The flight crew directs her to an empty hangar and she powers down the plane before a ladder is wheeled up.  
She climbs out onto the platform and looks towards the main hangar, where Cassie, Kimberly, and Janet are all staring in awe.

Amelia removes the large helmet, and Cassie starts sprinting down the flight line as fast as she can, followed by Kimberly.  
She walks down the steps and tucks the helmet under her arm, grabbing Cassie as she tries to run past.

 _Not so fast pipsqueak, let the ground crew take care of it first, and if you're good I might give you a tour._

Cassie nods and starts walking back towards the main hangar.  
Janet offers Amelia a cigarette when the two meet, and Amelia graciously accepts.

"Enjoy the flight?"

 _Of course! How couldn't I? It's not everyday that you get to fly an SR-71._

"True enough, I take it Jackson will be back soon too?"

 _Probably tomorrow, we took fire from something, and the Thud needs some minor repairs._

Janet grunts in acknowledgment and offers to carry the helmet, but Amelia just shakes her head and takes a drag from the cigarette.  
"So you're getting serious about information collection now? I always thought you hated doing recon flights."

 _I do, but...how can I pass up such an awesome plane? Plus I've always wanted to see the world from eighty-five thousand feet.  
_  
They finish their smoke and head into the main hangar, where Amelia changes out of the space suit and retrieves her black helmet and cloak from the back seat of the SR-71.  
She's walking back when the base intercom system squeals to life.

{All units! All units! Standby for mission! Possible Grimm attack!}

Amelia sprints back to the main hangar, where everyone is sitting around on the couches, in full flight gear and ready to go.

"Alright, everyone remember, keep civilians in mind. We've trained for this stuff before, let's not fuck it up." Janet gives a pep-talk while they wait, and soon the intercom system squeals to life again.

{All units! Scramble! Scramble! Scramble! Mountain Glenn is under attack!}

Everyone jumps up and sprints out, running down the flight line as fast as their legs will carry them to the hangars containing their individual aircraft. Amelia runs into her hangar and finds her A-10 loaded for bear, and quickly checks the armament before climbing in and starting up. While her engines are starting she watches as the three Kfir's taxi by, their pylons loaded with nothing but napalm.

 _Angel checking in!  
_ {Titan checking in!}  
{Razor checking in!}  
{Bulldog checking in!}  
{Saber one, two, and three checking in.}  
As soon as the engines are started and the plane is ready to go she quickly taxis out, and all down the flight line the entirety of the group is taxiing to the runway, every plane loaded to the max with bombs, rockets, and missiles.

The Kfir's don't wait around, as soon as they turn onto the runway they push into full afterburner and rocket down the runway

The A-10's take the same approach, opting to meet up while in the air they take off as fast as possible and turn towards Mt. Glenn, a short flight away from Vale.  
While they're forming up the Kfir's arrive at the city, and report in what they see.

{There's tons of Grimm already in the city! I see a large force inbound from the southwest, and we're getting ready to attack them! There are also many Griffins and nevermores in the skies, so we'll try our best to take care of them before you get here! The civilians are evacuating along the road to Vale, but they are also being attacked as they escape!}

Amelia makes a judgement call, sending Cassie and Janet to cover the evacuation effort while her and Kimberly try to keep the large force of Grimm out of the city for as long as possible. Just as the city comes into sight a gigantic wall of flame bursts up along the southwest side of the city, setting the trees on fire.

The flight splits up as planned, and Amelia links her TGP to her eye while scanning for targets.

Her first target presents itself in the middle of the city, a king taijitu. She quickly locks the beast up and selects a Maverick in her weapons panel before pressing the trigger.

 _Angel, rifle!_

The large missile flies off the rail and instantly turns to the designated target, flying for six miles before slamming into the gigantic snake and exploding, leaving nothing but a smoking crater where the beast once was.

Almost simultaneously Kimberly lets a Maverick fly, and it quickly slams into a large Beringel on the city hall, blasting a hole in the side of the building, as well as killing the large gorilla.

After the two missiles they turn their attention to the burning forest southwest of the city, and they quickly identify hundreds of Grimm waiting for the flames to die down.  
Amelia selects a pair of CBU-85's and begins her attack run, followed in by Kimberly, who selects a pair of Mk82's for the heavyweights of the mob.

 _Angel, pickle.  
_  
{Razor, pickle!}  
The cluster bombs impact first, detonating twenty feet off the ground before raining hundreds of small bomblets down onto the mob, shortly followed by the howling shriek of Kimberly's Mk82's and a pair of gigantic detonations.  
They have to wait for the smoke and dust to clear before Amelia finally spots the damage.

 _Good shit! We got them all there! Scratch at least a hundred!  
_  
They continue attacks for several minutes before Janet radios them.  
{We've got a huge force bearing down on the people being evacuated! We could use some help over here!}  
Amelia and Kimberly break off of a gun run and fly towards the two silver A-10's in the distance, watching as the two planes act like swallows, diving and zoom-climbing repeatedly as they use rockets and the 30mm cannon to try to keep the Grimm at bay while the crawling mass of civilians on the road moves towards Vale.

Amelia climbs high above the carnage and selects her last remaining Maverick, once again binding the TGP to her eye as she scans for a target.  
She quickly finds one, a quartet of Beowolves split away from the main force that threaten to decimate the center of the group of civilians should they get close enough.  
She quickly locks the target up and presses the trigger.

The AGM-65 flies off the rail, tracking the infrared laser to the target, where it slams into the lead Grimm and detonates not even a hundred yards away from the road, killing the entire group.  
The flight of four takes turns doing rocket and gun runs on groups of Grimm, the high explosives completely eviscerating even the toughest of the beasts.

That is, until a large, battle-scarred Deathstalker crawls out of the trees. Spotting the danger that the large scorpion poses to the civilians Amelia quickly prioritizes it, and rolls in, giving the beast a three second burst from the 30mm Gatling gun capable of killing any tank on the modern day battlefield.  
Pulling out of the attack she circles around to admire her handy work, expecting the Deathstalker to be dissolving into dust by the time the smoke clears. Needless to say she's shocked when the beast merely shakes off the attack and continues crawling forward, the large glowing stinger poised to attack anything that comes close enough.

 _Anybody got any Mavericks left?! I've got a Deathstalker here that just shook off a gun run!  
_  
{Razor here, I've got a single GBU-12, other than that I'm Winchester on ammo.}

Amelia watches as both Janet and Cassie do a rocket run on the scorpion, expending the last of their ammunition in a futile attempt to kill it. The dozens of rockets and cannon shells only succeed in crippling one of the legs on it.  
Amelia uses her TGP and lazes the Deathstalker for the laser guided bomb.

 _He's tagged! Kill that bastard!  
_  
Kimberly rolls in and drops the two thousand pound bomb from five thousand feet. Amelia holds her breath as the silver bomb streaks in and detonates, hitting the Deathstalker directly on the body.  
Soon the smoke and dust clears, revealing an empty smoking crater.  
{Good hit! All units return to base for rearm!}  
They turn for home, and halfway back they pass Saber flight heading in the opposite direction, once again loaded down with napalm.

Soon they're sitting on the taxiway, with armorers and flight crew scrambling around the aircraft, reloading all the spent munitions and attaching more bombs, missiles, and rockets.  
The rearm process takes only minutes, and soon they're airborne again.

When they arrive at Mt. Glenn they find that Saber flight has made a protective corridor with their napalm, setting the forest on fire some three hundred yards on either side of the road. Amelia capitalizes on the breathing room and has everyone start bombing large concentrations of Grimm with Mk82's, CBU-85's, and even more napalm in an effort to end the fight before it begins.

By the time they run out of bombs, the lush green forest on either side of the road is pockmarked with bomb craters, and in many places is on fire, making target acquisition difficult due to the smoke. Despite the decreasing visibility Amelia keeps servicing targets, striking many groups with her Mavericks and rockets before the sun sets and the night washes over the ongoing rescue effort.

As they're flying back to re-arm Janet crackles over the radio.  
{Alright, we're changing tactics. Our Hornets have been loaded with Mk82's and napalm, what we're going to do is we're going to keep setting the forest on fire, Razor and Angel you'll do the burning. Bulldog and I will carpet-bomb the area outside the corridor. This will be easier due to the decreased visibility. I've also received word from base that students from Beacon have been dispatched to help guard the refugees while we rearm. Let's get them safe and all get home in one piece.}

They all cheer in agreement and line up to land, once touched down they leave the powered-down jets in the parking area and all sprint to the hangars, where the fully-armed Hornets are.

* * *

When they arrive above the battlefield they line up on either side of the road and drop their fiery ordinance, lighting up the columns of choking smoke from fires already burning.  
Amelia circles back around and catches a glimpse of a pure white cloak on the outskirts of the group, and she tries her best to form a mental link with Summer.  
 _  
Summer listen, when these fires die down we're not going to be able to hold back the Grimm, you need to have those people down there hurry the fuck up or they're all going to die!  
_  
 _"'Alright! How many Grimm are we talking here? Because we've got eight teams down here guarding.'"_

 _You really want to know?_

 _"'Yes.'"_

 _I'm gonna be generous and say the minimum is three hundred._

 _"'Give me a realistic number for the maximum.'"_

 _Uhh...probably around four thousand? We've been bombing the shit out of them but they just keep coming._

 _"'I'll do what I can, lots of people are scared out of their minds. And some are injured.'"_

 _Alright, I've got to go rearm, I'll be back in ten minutes!_

Amelia cuts the mental link and kicks the powerful engines into afterburner, rocketing back to the base, where she lands and rearms with another full load of napalm before quickly taking off again.

On her way back to the battlefield she passes the trio of Kfir's, one of them has multiple nevermore feathers stuck in the fuselage and wings.

She ignores the sight and presses on, circling the battlefield once before streaking in and dropping her payload in an attempt to keep the fires burning.  
Bombs expended, she comes around again and shoots up a nevermore with her Vulcan before checking in with Summer.

 _How's it looking down there? The fires are starting to run out of fuel!  
_  
 _"'We've almost got all of them safely within the walls! Another five minutes and we'll be done!'"_

 _I don't know if you have five minutes, we can't keep these fires burning enough to keep the Grimm back! If anything we might be able to set the trees on fire right next to the road, but the chance of friendly fire is too big to try!_

 _"'If it'll keep the Grimm off of us then do it! I'll take responsibility for anything that goes bad!'"_

 _Like hell! I'll take responsibility, you just worry about getting the civilians inside the gates! Push them if you have to!_

 _"'Got it!'"_

 _I've got to go rearm again, may god be with you._

Once again Amelia terminates the link and flies back to base as fast as she can, landing and rearming.

She's just starting back up when the word comes through to stand down, all the civilians and hunters-in-training are safe.  
Amelia turns off the systems and just sits in her cockpit for several minutes, trying to calm down from the huge adrenaline rush she'd been riding ever since they got the order to scramble.

When the adrenaline goes away she finds herself unable to move, her body worn out from hours on end of pulling hard G's and running on all cylinders. Finally after the Hornet is backed into the hangar the flight crew helps her out, placing her in the bed of a truck, which drives her to the main hangar.  
It takes the combined effort of three mechanics to get her into the hangar and onto the couch, where she finally allows herself to slip into the clutches of sleep.

* * *

 **[A/N: Finally got chapter 3 done! Despite someone deleting my progress...I hope you all enjoyed! As always please leave a review, let me know how I did! The next chapter will be the finale for Volume 1, but I've already finished it and I've begun work on Volume 2! In Volume 2 I'm going to be working with a friend, and we'll be alternating scenes. However she writes much slower than I do, so the updates will be less frequent, but I've started another story unrelated to this one if anyone is interested!**


	4. Chapter 4: Finale!

**As promised here's the finale of Thorns for the Roses Volume 1! I hope y'all enjoyed it and please leave a review if you did!**

 **And with that, let the show begin!**

* * *

Amelia groggily wakes up, her body aches everywhere, and her muscles protest even the smallest of movements.

Reluctantly she tries to sit up, but finds herself being held down by something on top of her, so she looks down, and her jaw drops open.

Summer is laying on top of her, her white cloak flowing around the two of them like a blanket.

Amelia tries to squirm out from under her, but only succeeds in waking the girl up.

"Hmm? Oh, good morning. Hope you don't mind, you were shivering like crazy last night." Summer sleepily mumbles, climbing off and sitting down by Amelia's feet.

 _Oh...thanks._

"Don't worry about it, you saved our asses plenty last night."

Amelia sits up and realizes why everything is so muffled, her helmet is still on.

She removes the black helmet and pulls her hair out of her flight suit, running her fingers through it several times before flicking it over her shoulder to rest behind her.

 _Ugh, I feel like I wrestled with a bear and lost._

"Yeah, give it a bit, you'll be running around again in no time. Aura helps with healing as much as it does with protection."

She was right, the longer Amelia sat there the more her aches and pains faded. Five minutes later she jumps up and throws a few punches into thin air before stretching her arms.

 _Ahh. You're right! I feel great!_

Summer stretches and stands up as well, putting her cloak on as she walks towards the kitchen. "See? I told you, it's amazing the kind of punishment someone can take with aura and be fine a few hours later."

Amelia follows, but halfway across the hangar Jackson walks in and whistles.

"Elimination mission! We're wheels up in fifteen!"

 _Well look what the cat dragged in! You get the Thud fixed?_

"Yeah they got it fixed, I've also got a ton of pictures to deliver to Ozpin. The ground crew is changing up the configuration of the Thud to a bomber as we speak, meaning I'll be joining you guys for this."

Amelia pumps her fist in celebration and grabs her helmet off the couch, tucking it under her arm before staring at Summer with a grin.

 _Well? What are you waiting for? Go get in your flight gear! We actually get to blow shit up this time!_

Summer smiles excitedly and dashes up the stairs to the living quarters, where she grabs the gray suit and runs into the bathroom.

Jackson glares at her. "She's not trained enough to do a combat mission."

Amelia returns the glare and puts her hands on her hips.

 _We're not being precise, so she can ride along. I've been training her a little in each flight we've gone on, she knows how to fly, basic maneuvers and controls._

"And how is she doing? I figured you'd pull something like this."

 _She's actually very good, she can be gentle enough for fine adjustments, but strong enough to pull some serious G's. She pulled a solid eight for a few seconds the other day._

Jackson nods slowly, his eyes lost in thought as Summer comes out of the bathroom, dressed in her flight suit and all the extra necessities with her helmet under her arm.  
Summer puts her cloak on and happily walks down the stairs, followed by Kimberly and Cassie.

Amelia slaps Jackson on the shoulder as she walks past, heading for the large bay door at the end of the hangar while Summer jogs to catch up.

She walks out to the F-105, which has been changed in configuration from photo reconnaissance to a bomber, and now multiple Mk82's hang from the pylons on the wings and below the fuselage.

 _All aboard the pain train!_

Summer giggles and climbs into the back seat as Amelia does the pre-flight check, making sure all the ordinance is live and properly secured.  
Once she finishes the pre-flight she climbs into her seat and straps in before looking down the flight line, where the rest of the team is also climbing into their aircraft. She notices Jackson give her a thumbs up before he closes his canopy and returns the gesture.

She tunes her radio with one hand while starting the plane.

{So what's the target for today? We got a taste of blood and we're ready for more!} Kimberly asks, her purple helmet standing out the most among the pilots.

{Mountain Glenn, our objective is simple, cause enough damage to hinder the movement of Grimm such as Goliath's.} Jackson talks while doing the extensive startup procedure for his A-10.

{So essentially what we did last night? Bomb the hell out of the countryside?}

{Negative, we're bombing the city. Orders directly from the high council.}

There's an eerie silence that falls over the radio as everyone starts their planes, which carries on uninterrupted until Jackson gets his engines started.

{Listen, I don't like the thought of bombing skyscrapers either. But this is what we are, we're mercenaries, we take the job nobody wants without question and take the money once it's over. If you want to back out of this one I won't blame you.}

Suddenly Cassie shuts down her engines and opens her canopy. {nope, I'm out. I'm not bombing skyscrapers, especially not when they might still have civilians in them.}  
Kimberly shuts down and recites essentially the same thing.

 _What about you Summer? You want to make some money?_

{I'll go! After all the carnage last night I want to see what things look like from above!}

Amelia grins and turns off the parking brake, taxiing to the runway before waiting for Janet and Jackson.  
The pair of A-10's taxi in behind them, and from the flight line comes a sight that leaves Amelia shocked for a moment.

All of Saber flight are standing at attention, one of them covered in bandages and leaning heavily on a crutch. Determination on their faces the three slowly raise their arms into a salute.  
Amelia's eyes water up as she returns the salute, the burn in her eyes lingering as she pushes the throttle forwards and accelerates down the runway.

The flight to Mt. Glenn feels like an eternity, but Amelia watches in grim satisfaction as the green landscape below turns to a blackened wasteland, littered with bomb craters and burned trees.

{Damn, just how many bombs did you guys drop?} Jackson mutters into his helmet as he stares down at the rolling landscape.

 _As many as was necessary to keep the civilians safe. I hope you're taking pictures Summer._

{Oh I am, I'm taking lots of pictures, video too.}

Amelia smiles as they fly over a large ridge in between Vale and Mt. Glenn, but the smile quickly disappears when she sees dozens of small black specks in the distance, all circling the abandoned and battered city.  
{Nevermores, they're trying to find any survivors. Don't let them hit you with their feathers.} Janet warns as Amelia lines up on the largest skyscraper and arms her bombs.

They streak in at five thousand feet and drop their bombs before circling around to watch the impacts.

Amelia's payload all smash into its target, and the two-dozen story building topples over, landing on top of the main road out of town.

Jackson hits his target, and it topples over onto a shopping center, smashing out the colorful lights of the large building.

Janet bombs the power station, and it goes up in a bright flash as the one thousand pound bombs hit their mark, destroying the power transformers and plunging the cities lights into darkness.

{Good shit, mission complete, let's get back to home and get paid.} Jackson's voice is monotone as he spirals high above the city, turning back towards Vale.

Amelia watches the A-10 fly above her, momentarily losing track of it due to the high sun, and she marvels at it before Summer screams in her helmet.

{Look out!}

Amelia snaps out of her lull to find a Nevermore slinging feathers at them, the wide swath completely unavoidable given the performance of the aircraft. She thinks quickly and reverses the turn, causing the large black feathers to embed in the underbelly of the aircraft, instead of smashing into the cockpits.

She doesn't get to celebrate her maneuvering however, as the base of one of the large feathers pierces her seat and rips into her right thigh.  
She grits her teeth in pain and accelerates away from the large bird, her white-knuckled grip on the controls shaking.

 _You alright back there Summer?_

{Yeah I'm alright! A little banged up from the sudden maneuver but otherwise fine!}

 _Well I'm glad one of us is. This feather in my leg hurts like hell!_

{Are you alright!? How bad is it?!}

 _I'll be fine. You just worry about getting plenty of pictures to show to Beacon._

Amelia opens a mental link with Jackson once she's back over the dividing ridge and he pulls up alongside her.

 _I need you to do a visual check on my landing gear, I'm losing hydraulic pressure and if I don't put them down now I probably won't get a chance to_.

 _"'Alright, go ahead.'"_

There's a period of electrical whirring as the hydraulic pumps try to pump fluid to lower the landing gear, but it soon fades out.

 _"'Shit. Half down, try your backup.'"_

 _nothing!_

"' _Alright, do a full Jettison on your pylons. Then you'll have to belly it in.'"_

Amelia works the switches at her disposal, and instructs Summer on what switches to flip, but once the process is complete nothing happens.  
Amelia dreadfully lines up for the runway, aiming off to one side so she'll touch down in the grass.

 _Alright, Summer, to your low right is a black and yellow handle. Do you remember what it's for?_

{Erm...no...? Should I?}

 _Nah, it's fine. I want you to grab it by the top and sit back in your seat, then pull it straight up_.

{Uhh, okay...now?}

 _Yes now, before we get any lower_.

There's a sudden roar behind her as Summer unknowingly ejects herself from the plane over Vale, and Amelia can practically hear Summer cussing her out behind the plane as the parachute floats to the ground.

Despite regulations against it, Amelia pulls her mask off and cuts the oxygen before reaching into her vest and pulling out a cigarette. She quickly lights it and takes a long drag as she guides the plane in, the controls being sluggish and shaky

There's a grinding sound as the underbelly of the plane grinds on concrete, but it's quickly replaced with the sound of rattling as the gravel in the grass scrapes against the fuselage. The belly landing goes well, until one of the partially extended landing gear catches in the dirt. The action causes the plane to jerk sideways, and to everyone else's horror, the plane's wings bend, then rip off, and it rolls like a log down the tarmac flinging pieces of the plane everywhere.

To Amelia, the world goes black on the second roll.


End file.
